• Pre-seed funding round led by SFC Capital alongside high profile angel investors
• Recfindr is the first all-in-one platform to give hiring managers full control over recruitment – increasing the speed of hiring for key roles by 50% 
• Solo female founder brings deep domain expertise after career in fintech recruitment

London, UK – 23 Jan 2025: Recfindr, a British startup building a recruitment management system for employers, has raised a pre-seed funding round of £300K. 

The round was led by SFC Capital, the UK’s leading SEIS fund for innovative companies. Also participating were a number of high profile angel investors, including Ezequiel Canestrari, the European COO of Clearbank, who backed the company after using the platform. 

Recfindr is the first all-in-one platform that gives hiring managers full control over the recruitment process. Hiring managers can manage legal contracts, procurement, contracts and track progress metrics through the Recfindr platform. They are also connected to boutique recruiters. 

There are more than 30,000 recruitment agencies in the UK, and 80% of recruitment agencies are boutique firms with fewer than 10 employees. However, hiring managers typically use the same corporate firms to fill urgent roles because they don’t have the time or due diligence to identify onboard smaller recruiters. Given the UK’s fastest growing industries require highly technical talent – fintech, AI, biotech, healthcare – this means hiring managers are using generalist firms to fill specialist roles. 

By connecting hiring managers to boutique recruitment firms, Recfindr is reducing the time hiring managers take to fill these urgent roles by 50%. Considering fintech vacancies are surging, Recfindr offers an immediate process change that will allow companies to recruit the best talent as they scale. 

Having been founded less than a year ago, Recfindr is already having an impact on a market worth £36BN. More than 160 recruitment agencies have signed up to the platform to connect with hiring managers. 

Following demand from early adopters, Recfindr has expanded its functionality to become a tool that embeds into companies’ systems to manage the full recruitment process as well as the relationship with recruiters. The funding from the pre-seed round will be used to hire engineering talent to further develop the platform, and to invest in marketing and sales. 

“The UK is home to some of the world’s best recruiters and recruitment agencies. However, the market is deeply fragmented and I know how hard it is for boutique recruiters to get noticed by large clients. But we need more specialist recruiters to support hiring managers in fast-growth industries. You wouldn’t hire a generalist to perform complex surgery, or defend you in court or build the software for your company. And yet we continue to hire generalist recruiters. Recfindr gives the power to hiring managers and allows them to access the specialists they need, whilst managing the process in one simple platform.
 

This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth and realise our ambitions to transform the recruitment industry. As a solo female founder I am very proud of what the company has already achieved, and look forward to scaling the business in the years to come.” 

Alexandra Chirica, founder of Recfindr, comments

“The high number of vacancies in sectors such as fintech shows that new approaches in recruitment are required to meet the demands of the UK’s fastest growing industries. Recfindr is the perfect example of an HR Tech startup that is empowering hiring managers to make better hiring decisions faster, accelerating their scale trajectory in the process. Alexandra is a founder who combines deep industry knowledge with real ambition and commitment. We are delighted to have invested in Recfindr and have every confidence in the company’s future success.”

Ed Stevenson, Investment Executive at SFC Capital

Alexandra Chirica is the solo founder of Recfindr. A Romanian-British entrepreneur, Alexandra spent six years working in the recruitment industry. Having started working at larger corporate recruiters, Alexandra founded her own recruitment agency in 2020 focused on building compliance and anti-financial crime teams in fintechs. Clients included the likes of Banking Circle, ZEPZ and Monese.  

At a time when only 2% of VC funding is going to female and ethnic minority founders, Alexandra is a positive example of a successful female founder building a venture-backed startup in the fast-growth sector of British rec-tech. 

ENDS

About Recfindr

Recfindr is an all-in-one platform transforming how employers manage and collaborate with recruitment agencies. Designed with seamless ATS integrations in mind, Recfindr empowers hiring teams to simplify agency procurement, streamline legal contracts, and monitor key performance metrics, such as time-to-hire and placement success rates.

With a focus on transparency and efficiency, Recfindr enables employers to manage their recruitment suppliers effortlessly, centralise communication, and track ongoing progress – all in one place.

Founded by Alexandra Chirica, an experienced recruiter and entrepreneur, Recfindr bridges the gap between employers and boutique recruitment agencies, addressing industry pain points with innovative tools and a data-driven approach.

About SFC Capital

SFC Capital is the UK’s most active seed-stage investor, providing seed capital and support to promising British startups. By combining` our leading investment funds with our angel syndicate, we have created a unique model that provides investors with diversified exposure to high-potential SEIS and EIS-qualifying businesses. Since 2012, SFC has invested in over 450 startups and partnered with the likes of British Business Investments to support innovation across all UK regions. To learn more about what we do and see our portfolio, visit sfccapital.com.