Willo, the Scottish recruitment technology platform, has secured £1.8 million investment in its latest round, including backing from the US founder of global email security giant Mimecast.

Investor and Mimecast founder Peter Bauer has committed £1.5m to the Glasgow-founded video interview scaleup, which he believes has “massive” growth potential in international markets.

Former chief digital officer of Visa Europe, Freeserve pioneer Mark Danby, and 1818 Venture Capital were among the other investors in this round.

Willo, founded by Euan Cameron and Andrew Wood in 2018, is used by public and private organisations in more than 180 countries around the world to make hiring processes faster, more efficient, and accessible—with Samsung, Hitachi, and Prada among its users.

The latest investment, which brings Willo’s total funding to £4.2m, will be used to further research and development and assist with the evolution of its integrated verification and certification software, viewed as a key point of difference for the tool.

The money will also fund further expansion in the US, where the firm has a New York base and is a market responsible for more than 60% of Willo’s revenue, as well as growing the firm’s global headcount to 25.

Euan Cameron, CEO and co-founder at Willo, said the additional capital provides the organisation with the foundation to both develop its technology and the opportunity to push for further growth.

“This is a significant moment for the team at Willo, and also for the Scottish tech start-up scene,” he said.

“It’s no secret that the investment landscape has been challenging of late, so to receive this level of backing from investors like Peter Bauer is a massive statement of faith in what we have achieved and where we’re going.

“This funding enables even greater levels of operational focus. It puts us in a position where we don’t need to fundraise next year, and we can prioritise scale and growth in 2025.

“As a company we can now experiment, invest in R&D – developing new technologies for our customers, and then go all-in on growth with a world leading interviewing platform.”

“There is significant momentum behind the business, and we are on the cusp of being not just a Scottish tech success story, but a global one,” Cameron added.

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Bauer founded Mimecast with co-founder Neil Murray in 2003, and it has since grown into one of the world’s biggest email security platforms. He stepped down as CEO in 2024, and now invests in some of the most prominent tech start-ups in the world.

“I’m excited to support Willo’s mission,” said Bauer. The platform’s capability to simplify hiring not only enhances the candidate experience but makes life better for hiring managers.

“It also helps to improve accessibility, enabling candidates to find better opportunities anywhere in the world, levelling the playing field, while giving companies a better understanding of who is actually best suited for any role.”

Willo, which has active customers and candidates in all 195 countries around the world, remains on target to grow a further 300% by end of 2025, an ambition that will include interviewing millions of candidates whilst becoming a carbon-neutral organisation.