Growing a team isn’t just about finding candidates who claim to fill your needs. It also requires verification of those skills and qualifications. Previously, this process could be complicated and unreliable. But Veremark is changing all that. Read about the company and its unique solution in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Provides employee verification solutions.
Co-founder and CEO Daniel Callaghan told Small Business Trends, “Veremark helps businesses combat CV fraud by making it quick and easy for employers to verify a job candidate’s credentials before hiring them.
“Companies use our platform to run more than 40 kinds of credential checks in 150 countries. Spanning everything from their academic and employment history to their social media activity or criminal record. So employers can be confident that new hires really do have the expertise and experience they claim to have.
“For small companies, we eliminate the complexity of cross-border checks. For big companies, we provide a single platform that helps manage globally distributed workforces.”
Business Niche
Offering a fast, intuitive experience.
Callaghan says, “We created something called a ‘Career Passport’. In short, when a company runs a check on a candidate, the results are Blockchain verified. The Career Passport, containing the results of all their checks, is given to the candidate who can take it to their next employer, meaning the same checks needn’t be done twice. Our model of handing data ownership to candidates is a progressive step with a real benefit attached to it. Because career changing is stressful enough!”
How the Business Got Started
To solve multiple hiring issues.
Callaghan explains, “I previously founded one of Europe’s earliest freelance marketplaces where our clients were PE funds and management consultancies. And therefore needed to do background checks on the independent consultants they hired. This process was always slow and complicated for those involved.
“I also ran innovation across APAC for one of the world’s largest recruitment companies, where I looked after Blockchain initiatives globally. Here again, I saw the pain and inefficiency, along with the poor state of customer service that was endemic across the industry.
“Given the workforce trends around global mobility, the growth in freelance work and the rise in cross-border hiring, we felt that if we could build a digital-first solution that made it easy for all to understand what could be checked and where, and provide a lasting data asset that would offer convenience to the market, then we might have something.”
Biggest Win
Raising significant funding.
Callaghan adds, “We’ve just raised $8.5M in equity funding just nine months after our initial $2.8M seed round, bringing our total funding to $12.3M. This has been our biggest win.
“But it’s also being able to grow our business significantly despite the challenges of the last few years and Covid-19. In 2020 alone, Veremark grew more than 800% to break $1M ARR. And we saw our client base double.”
Biggest Risk
Going global from the start.
Callaghan says, “Conventional wisdom would be to own a particular market or country first. But we had a hunch that the ability to provide an international service could be a great advantage, given changing employment and hiring trends.
“We didn’t know then that a global pandemic would come along, upturning traditional hiring practices and sparking a rise in overseas hiring which continues to this day. Being a global business meant we were much better placed than many of our competitors to accommodate this, considering all the data protocols were already built into our systems.
“We’ve also been able to set up strong partnerships with a number of global players, who tell us that they really value our reach and flexibility.”
Lesson Learned
Learn what customers need.
Callaghan explains, “While we’ve always been laser-focused on meeting customer needs, we could have invested even more in this area from the get-go, as it really is the secret to our success.”
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Improving their solutions.
Callaghan says, “Having just raised a significant round of investment, this is a question we ask ourselves a lot. We pride ourselves on the speed, simplicity and security of our service. So we’d pump it into perfecting our technology and doing what we do better.”
Favorite Team Activity
Bringing global employees together.
Callaghan says, “As a fast-growing global business, with employees based around the world in APAC, UK, EU and USA, we don’t often get an opportunity to take stock and come together in person. That’s why we recently brought our whole ASEAN team together for a couple of days of learning, team bonding and fun in the Philippines – featuring presentations, employee appreciation awards, a dinner overlooking the stunning Taal volcano and a karaoke party.”
Favorite Quote
“The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.” – Steve Jobs.
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Image: Veremark
This article, "Spotlight: Veremark Solves Common Issues with Employee Verification and Background Checks" was first published on Small Business Trends
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