Female-owned South African Startup, Job Crystal Secures R4.2 million Funding

Job Crystal, a female-owned startup from South Africa has obtained R4.2 million ($0.25 million) in investment funding courtesy of Enygma Venture’s Shift Fund.

Speaking on the investment, Job Crystal’s Managing Director and co-founder, Sasha Knott said, “we’re thrilled to receive this investment from Enygma Ventures which will help us to improve our tech development and expand our footprint across the country and region.”

Job Crystal is an online recruitment platform through which employers can hire job-seeking candidates who meet their stated criteria. The startup was founded in 2009 by Karl Westvig and Kevin Laithwaite before it was completely sold in 2015 to Kelly Louw and Sasha Knott.

Job Crystal plays the role of an online human resources manager by connecting corporate organisations, majorly SMEs, to suitable and qualified candidates in South Africa. It vets candidates and selects those who best fit what the SMEs are looking for in a prospective employee.

Job Crystal currently caters to over 3000 corporate businesses plus SMEs and more than 240,000 candidates, with almost 900 job specifications listed on its site.

Many SMEs within South Africa use Job Crystal’s online gateway to find talents across a wide range of industries. The company charges SMEs and corporate businesses a recruiting fee which is payable over a stated period.

Apart from clients who advertise their job vacancies, candidates can also upload their CVs on the platform. Users may choose to use its free salary survey feature to check salary ranges across different organisations.

Funding History and Financial Statements

Before receiving the R4.2 million funding from Enygma Venture’s Shift Fund, Job Crystal has largely been privately bootstrapped by its two directors, Kelly Louw and Sasha Knott. The founders put all revenues back into the business between 2015-2017 to rebrand the job platform. The startup has yet to organise a funding round.

As of now, the company is yet to publicly release any report detailing its generated revenue figures, number of transactions processed via its website, profits or losses.