Scottish video technology start-up Willo has hired what it describes as “one of Scotland’s foremost tech funding experts” to lead its finance division and help drive further national and international expansion.
Kevin Swan joins the growing Glasgow-founded video interview platform from EY, where as an associate director in the corporate finance division he was responsible for leading the accountancy firm’s technology deals in Scotland.
Willo claims to be one of the world’s fastest growing asynchronous video interview platforms, working with more than 5,500 organisations including the NHS, Coinbase, Chick-fil-A, and Sureify.
Mr Swan, its new vice president of finance and winner of Emerging Dealmaker of the Year at Business Insider's Deals and Dealmakers awards in 2022 for his work with technology companies in Scotland, brings a decade of experience.
READ MORE: Willo video interview platform raises £1.5 million
He has worked on “transformative” high-growth tech deals, including the sale of edtech business Flow to Mapal Software in 2019, and securing investment in ETB Technologies from Swedish funder Roko.
Mr Swan will initially focus on dialling up Willo’s use of data-led business insights and intelligence, with the aim of helping the start-up – which recently announced $2.5 million investment to drive expansion into the US – scale around the world.
“The scale of the market opportunity for Willo is enormous," he said.
READ MORE: Entrepreneur may quit Scotland for Europe
"The pandemic precipitated a huge increase in remote interviewing, but it has already developed significantly since then and become a continually accelerating trend, particularly for organisations with a high-volume of job intakes.
“Willo’s ease and simplicity to use, extensive integrations with key applicant-tracking systems, value-added features like candidate ID verification checks, and dedicated customer service separate it from the competition and I firmly believe we have the potential to be the world’s go-to video interview platform.”
Willo founders Euan Cameron and Andrew Wood believe Mr Swan’s expertise in business insights and intelligence will help take the tech firm to new heights.
READ MORE: Glasgow recruitment technology start-up has quickly become a global player
Mr Cameron said: “Kevin is somebody we’ve had our eye on for some time, and brings a wealth of experience working with high-growth startups that will help Willo scale in all departments.
“We are firm believers in decision making informed by data-led insights and intelligence, and Kevin’s expertise in this area significantly Increases the value we offer customers, employees, and shareholders through financial maturity.
“We have ambitions to be the world’s biggest video interview platform, and Kevin’s data-led approach and insight will be central to our achieving them.”
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Willo, which already operates in more than 135 countries around the world, remains on target to grow turnover to £40m by the end of 2025.
It means more than one million video interview completions per month – a key metric for the burgeoning firm – and in excess of 80,000 paying users.
It plans to open a new base in New York City in second half of this year that will provide a base for a seven-strong US sales and support team.
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