The founders of a new job-matching startup at iAccelerate keep being told their business is like Tinder for jobs.
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Joanna Downer and tech experts Alan Logan and Katherine White have just launched flexible job-matching platform Kitl which is initially targeting the Illawarra and Sydney before going national.
Ms Downer said since March more talent moving into both regions. And as restrictions ease in Victoria the business will look at servicing Melbourne.
She describes Kitl as an affordable data-driven hyperlocal marketplace that matches hirers and professionals for flexible work.
"We have set ourselves up from the outset to be able to manage all types of jobs," she said.
As passionate advocates of the 'e-change revolution' Kitl's founders want to help people to work anywhere they want to live.
The platform is attracting professionals with marketing, sales, finance and digital experience looking for part-time roles. Interest is coming from graduates looking for their first job and experienced professionals looking to supplement their retirement with part-time consulting work.
Ms Downer said Kitl will help businesses tap into talent on-demand. It not only matches jobseekers with employers but can take care of labour-hire governance for more a painless hiring process.
Ms Downer initially started a pilot in 2017 while she was living in Manly and realised she was onto something.
When she had children she also realised she too needed to work differently. An in 2018 after her relocation to Wollongong she teamed up with her two tech co-founders and successfully applied to enter the iAccelerate program.
They had just raised the capital required to commercialise the startup when COVID-19 changed the landscape for flexible work. Which was a perfect time for Kitl's job matching platform to emerge.
"It is not just about women or parents returning to work after a family break," Ms Downer said.
There are businesses wanting to recover post Covid and get their economic stability going again with agile hiring. There are young people wanting to enter the workforce. And there are consultants in the later stages of their careers wanting to work fewer hours coming onto the platform to advertise their time, skills and experience.
"We see a real dual opportunity here for both sides of the market," Ms Downer said.
"When businesses ask me what I do I tell them I have this flexible matching platform that looks around to see who has got the skills, availability and location that matches your needs.
"And they say "oh like Tinder for jobs".
"It keeps popping up in conversations and has stuck."
Ms Downer said she and her co-founders had all worked as freelancers and experienced the need to find work at different stages of their careers. They have also been involved in growing businesses needing someone to work but not in a full time position.
She said Kitl also recognises there is a whole new world of remote work and increasing possibilities to access people from anywhere.
"It is a talent service where you only pay anything when we match you," Ms Downer said.
Kitl is also employing itself and has just hired Bella Creswick who was recently a UOW marketing inturn with the startup. And Rachel Badham has just come on board as Illawarra community manager to grow the local network.
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
