‘Investor’s share in Giraffe funding round valued at R10m to R20m’ [Updated]

SA startup Giraffe announced today that it has closed a second funding round, with a lead investor participating in the round revealing that its own share of the contribution was valued at “between R10-million and R20-million”.

In a press release today the startup, which runs a web platform that matches job seekers with job placements, said it had closed a second round of equity funding, led by Edge Growth’s Vumela Fund with participation from Omidyar Network, Catapult Trust and the Nando co-founder Robbie Brozin’s family office Forever Young Capital.

While the startup’s founder and CEO Anish Shivdasani would not reveal the details of the deal, when pressed for comment Janice Johnston, investment head of Edge Growth — a FirstRand fund — said the value of Edge Growth’s contribution was between R10-million and R20-million.

The funding will enable the business to scale, cover ongoing development of the platform — which handles the recruitment of semi-skilled workers such as security guards, shop assistants and call-centre agents on behalf of client companies —  expand its sales staff and take on more corporate clients, Johnston said.

Investor says their contribution of funding round was valued at between R10-million and R20-million in Giraffe deal

She said job creation would play an important role in Vumela Fund’s commitment — 50% of which is made up of the Treasury’s Jobs Fund. The fund would be required to report back to the Treasury on the number of jobs that have been facilitated through the platform — which Johnston said is targeted at 800 jobs over three years.

The second funding round comes exactly two years after Giraffe raised seed investment from Omidyar Network, the Silicon Valley venture fund established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. In 2016 Giraffe won a $500 000 investment prize from the Seedstars World Summit.

Read more: Giraffe receives undisclosed seed funding from Omidyar Network
Read more: Seedstars World crowns mobile employment service Giraffe SA’s top startup

Shivdasani would not disclose the details of the first-round funding, suffice to say that Omidyar Network has opted to increase its stake in Giraffe, through the current funding round.

He said while the startup got offers for funding from a number of investors, he decided to go with Edge Growth because of what he says is the funder’s credibility in the local marketplace and because the fund itself is being backed by the Jobs Fund.

Currently the company has 10 staff, double the number over a year ago. Shivdasani said the startup plans to double the number again, within a year.

He said since he founded the company, Giraffe has attracted over half a million jobseekers and invited almost 200 000 candidates for interviews. However, he would not reveal the number of candidates that have been placed at jobs, pointing out that it isn’t in the platform’s hands whether a candidate is able to secure a job or not following an initial interview.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly had it that the value of the investment round was between R10m and R20m, when in fact the value of the investor Edge Growth’s contribution itself, was between R10m and R20m. We regret the error.

Featured image: Giraffe founder Anish Shivdasani