Employee referral platform in £275k investment deal with London’s Fuel Ventures

An online platform that helps businesses improve employee referrals and cut hiring costs has received a £275k investment.

Real Links will use the six-figure boost, secured through London-based investment fund Fuel Ventures, to expand its sales and business development teams.

The firm also plans to develop the second stage of its platform, adding featuring that will enable employees to sync their social media contacts and automatically recommend connections who match job descriptions.

Real Links operates from an office in Islington. The firm was founded by business partners Sam Davies and Dan Krijgsman with the aim of making it easier for companies to increase employee engagement and participation in referral schemes.

Through Real Links, employees collect points for various forms of participation, not just for hires. Points and prizes are awarded for emails, shares, applications and hires – all of which is tracked via Real Links’ analytics dashboard.

Co-founder Sam Davies said: “Employee referral schemes have numerous benefits, from quicker hires to better staff retention and lower recruitment costs, but despite this, less than 10% of annual hires currently come from referrals in the UK.

“The main reason for this low statistic is a lack of employee engagement.”

He continued: “I experienced this myself with previous employers, and that’s how Real Links came about. We have set out to help companies across the country not only find and hire top talent at a low cost but improve employee engagement and staff retention at the same time.

“The first stage of our platform is just the beginning and we’re delighted to have secured funding from Fuel Ventures to take Real Links to the next stage.”

Real Links is the second firm to receive funding from Fuel Ventures since it raised £20m in its third round, following a £500k deal with an on-demand manufacturing platform.

Fuel Ventures founder Mark Pearson commented: “Since our launch in 2014, we have been committed to investing in companies that we believe have exceptional growth potential, and this £20m fund have given us fresh opportunity to support a wide variety of lucrative early-stage companies.

“Real Links certainly has that potential. It is a fantastic, innovative business that is invaluable in terms of recruitment, staff engagement and employee retention and we look forward to supporting them on their path to success.”