By Kristy Dorsey

A Scottish start-up that has chalked up significant monthly growth during the pandemic has secured £250,000 in seed funding to expand staff numbers as it furthers development of its videoconferencing technology.

Glasgow-based Willo has secured the fresh capital injection from Guernsey-based 1818 Venture Capital and its own board members. It will allow the firm to recruit 24 new members of staff.

The Willo platform allows users to interview people on video at scale, and is in use in more than 60 countries around the world. Prior to the pandemic, 95 per cent of this business was related to recruitment, but since March more than half of new business has emerged from other areas such as reviews, training, and learning and development.

READ MORE: Scottish tech recruitment rises as sector emerges from lockdown

Since April, the company has expanded sales by at least 80% per month.

“We witnessed a huge amount of growth as businesses across the globe were forced to address the fact that face-to-face interviews and consultations were no longer possible, and the resources required to conduct everything over Zoom or Skype was prohibitive,” founder and chief executive Euan Cameron said.

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“As well as finding a solution to interact with potential recruits, businesses had to act quickly to find efficient and effective ways to communicate with employees and their customers remotely. This demand shows no sign of slowing down as we adapt to a new normal, and it’s part of the reason we have been able to secure investment to develop the platform and take our business to the next level.”

The seed investment comes on the heels of £20,000 of Scottish Enterprise cash secured earlier this year. 1818 Venture Capital provided more than £200,000 of the fresh funding, with board members Steve Perry, Stefan Ciecierski and Peter Preston contributing the remainder.