Shine Interview has developed a recruitment platform that allows companies to interview candidates by video. Founded in 2016, the startup has secured €400k from the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Fund Managers.
Based in Sunderland, Shine removes the need for the interviewers and the candidate to be present in the same room at the same time, reducing costs and speeding up the recruitment process. Managers set interview questions online and candidates then record their responses in their own time through their mobile phone. The resulting videos can then be reviewed by the manager and shared with colleagues.
The platform includes a Values Based Recruitment (VBR) tool, which helps organisations to align candidates’ values, goals and behaviours with their own, ensuring a better cultural fit.
“I’ve been involved in startups for years – from growing a team from scratch, to scaling up following investment rounds, managing offshore teams and setting up new contact centres,” said CEO David Copple. “In each case, the quality of the team was paramount and I was keen to look beyond the CV and consider how the individual would fit with the team. There had to be a better way than receiving endless CVs and sitting through numerous first-round interviews.
“Shine has grown rapidly over the last few years. The investment will help us to capitalise on our position as the UK’s leading video interview and pre-hire assessment platform.”
The company now employs 10 people and has clients including Nissan, Matalan, Reed, SkyBet, Parkdean Resorts and the University of Toronto. The investment will allow it to create eight new jobs in research and development, and sales and marketing.
“Shine Interview offers a more modern approach to recruitment, ensuring a more positive experience for candidates and allowing managers to reduce the time spent by almost half in some cases,” said Ian Wilson of Mercia Fund Managers. “The funding will allow David to build his team, step up marketing activities and provide working capital to meet the growing demand.”
