Targeted recruitment platform OneShift raises $5 million

Online recruitment platform for shift and short-term work OneShift has announced an equity partnership with staffing and facility management company Programmed.

In exchange for a 27.5% equity stake, OneShift will receive $5 million and access to Programmed’s network of resources and its 10,000 strong team.

OneShift founder and chief executive Gen George told StartupSmart the partnership was a strategic one that went beyond just the investment dollars.

“It’s exciting to find a partner with whom we can be quite strategic. This partnership isn’t just cash and it will help us grow OneShift into a thriving global business,” George says, adding the partnership aligns with each company’s independent goals and has been in the works since December 2012.

“We’re looking to expand as quickly as possible. The beauty is this is a very strategic move, as we can grow really quickly through their assets across the country. Programmed see that there is growth in the online recruitment space and know they need to get involved, either on their own or with someone already in the market.”

The two companies will remain completely separate. George says no decision has been made about where to invest the funds as the two teams would be sitting down to discuss this in the coming months.

“We’re in the honeymoon phase, but really we need to sit down and take the next steps together and make sure we’re using our assets best. Because we’re an online business, we’re not looking to grow our staff base to support the coming growth,” George says.

“We’ll be talking about investing in everything from marketing to increasing presence around the world such as putting new offices in other places.”

George says their first international market will be New Zealand before they look to Asian neighbours. Almost a third of OneShift’s revenue now comes from placing repeat users in full-time work.

“New Zealand is an obvious next step as we have a lot of people signing up when they come over here for work and want to use the app again when they get home,” George says.

“We’ll then focus on Asia first. Our biggest challenge is going into other languages but we think it’s important to get localised in the southern hemisphere first before moving to the northern hemisphere.”

The OneShift team of 35 is currently focusing on growing their user base of 230,000 people and preparing for the Christmas casual employment boom period.