Hiring Screen raises $800K to build algorithms that help companies find the best hires

Hong Kong-based HR tech startup Hiring Screen announced today it secured US$800,000 in seed funding from private investors in Asia and Europe.

Launched this year by long-time friends Richard Hanson and Luke Byrne, the platform dramatically reduces the time required to screen candidate applications.

Richard, who used to be an HR consultant for some corporations, says: “What used to take me five hours when I was recruiting for clients, can now be done in just five minutes.”

Richard earlier explained to Tech in Asia how his company is addressing a real problem for recruiters. Through algorithms and machine learning, Hiring Screen helps recruiters sift through huge volumes of CVs to shortlist people who are probably the best fit for a job – a process they’d normally do manually. This essentially frees up time for recruiters to meet more applicants in person.

See: Hiring Screen wants to make hiring more efficient for both recruiters and applicants

How does it work, exactly? Hiring Screen allows you to set up jobs, input applications, and then sort and rank applicants automatically through “blink scores,” which are generated based on metrics of your choosing. The platform makes an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in relation to your job postings. When you’ve shortlisted candidates, you can share that list with anyone and save notes on the candidates as you meet them personally.

Luke says they will use their recent funding to improve their data science expertise, “make our user interface more functional, and optimize overall user experience.”

The company is focused mostly on Hong Kong, but it sees big potential in Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia.

Hiring Screen is a part of Hong Kong’s technology accelerator program, Blueprint, which is run by Swire Properties.