HRtech startup Intrro gets $500,000 for tool that automatically suggests employee referrals

Intrro, a London and Tbilisi-based HRtech startup, has raised $500,000 in financing led by 500 startups, a Silicon Valley VC. The total includes $250,000 in convertible note. Dubai-based Spartech Ventures also participated in the round, along with strategic angel investor Saif Kidwai, founder of Digital Gurus, a recruitment technology consultancy acquired by the Rethink Group in 2016. Intrro digitises and automates the age-old and often effective practice of employee referrals. Using machine learning, the software scans employees’ social and professional networks to identify possible candidates for an open job. Then the employee can make contact first, a human and familiar “intro”, after which the recruiter can take over.

Ideally, hiring managers end up with a pool of diverse, verified talent.

The startup was founded last May by Nasser Oudjidane and Neel Shah. Both used to work in the Abu Dhabi office of the Adecco Group, a legacy HR Fortune 500 company based in Switzerland.

While the business side of Intrro is based in London, its product, development, and data science teams are based in Tsibili, Georgia — and that's where most of the new funding will go.