Angolan recruitment startup Jobartis has expanded to Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia as it builds momentum ahead of a funding round.
Launched in 2013, Jobartis has all the main features of a jobs board, such as candidate matching and filtering, as well as others more adapted to local specifications, such as a combination of email and CRM candidate submission, and the possibility to ask questions to candidates embedded in the job offer.
Disrupt Africa first reported on the startup back in 2015, and it has since launched a spin-off ed-tech venture in Kenya, but 2019 has seen it make major strides with launches in Cameroon, the DRC and Zambia. It is also looking at Gabon, and hopes to raise between US$750,000 and US$1 million in funding for further growth.
Founder Adrián Viñuales told Disrupt Africa the company had built a market-leading position in Angola, with 500,000 users, and had already acquired 20,000 users in its new markets. Despite the huge devaluation of the Angolan kwanza since its launch, its revenues grew by 125 per cent last year. In spite of this, it has faced challenges securing investment.
“Angola is our flagship, our first operation, and one of the markets with the biggest potential in Africa in GDP. But of course we understand that for that potential to become a fact will take time, as today it is a small market as per internet penetration. So we expand to grow, putting markets together and creating a bigger market,” Viñuales said.
“If fundraising in Africa is complex, in Angola even more. In Africa there are three countries that attract most of the attention: Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. While we believe there are huge opportunities in other markets, tech investments have remained low, probably because of lack of cultural ties, little knowledge of the markets and perceived political and economic instability.”
Nevertheless, Jobartis still has grand plans. Viñuales is targeting five million users, and revenues of US$30 million, by 2023.
“We enter underserved online recruitment markets which provide a clear opportunity to become the number one player. Once we become the leading player, we leverage that position by offering highly demanded high-value recruitment services,” he said.
“We intend to dominate several key African markets and become a leading figure in the African jobs space, as well as dominating the segment of international companies recruiting in Africa.”
