Fuzu, an East Africa-focused job recruitment site has raised a $3.8 million Series A funding round led by Sparkmind.vc. The investment round was joined by existing investor Finnfund while Cornerstone Enterprises, Seedstars International, Aucfan Incubate and Barona, also participated in the round.
Fuzu which operates in Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania will use the new investment to expand across Africa and grow its staff strength.
“We are impressed by the Fuzu team and what they have built so far, and we look forward to work with Jussi Hinkkanen, founder and CEO of Fuzu, and his colleagues. Fuzu fits well in our investment focus as a prime example of digitally distributed, personalised lifelong learning solution that can be made accessible to tens of millions of users,” Sparkmind.vc Partner, Vesa Laakso said.
Finnfund CEO Jaakko Kangasniemi affirmed Fuzu’s ability to narrow the employability gap, especially among the young working-age population by combining the strengths of the Finnish education and innovation systems with a deep understanding of the end-users. The company’s first investment in Fuzu was in 2016 and the need for a platform like it has just grown over the years.
“As an East African investor, we understand the importance of talent and data in accelerating the growth of the local private sector. Fuzu rides the wave of job market transformation and we are excited to be on board”, said Cornerstone Enterprises Ltd Chairman Davinder Sikand.
Aucfan Incubate Inc. CEO Masatoshi Inoue stated that Fuzu is their first investment on the African continent and expressed excitement about the potential with the Fuzu concept and the continent as a whole.
The COO of the recruitment startup, Edward Vaisberg closed the remarks with confidence that this group of investors will help Fuzu catalyse the African talent ecosystem and prepare millions of people and thousands and organizations for success.
The recruitment startup aims to use its online learning center and aptly created courses to improve candidates’ capabilities and grow their careers.
Since launching in Kenya in 2015, the company has registered more than a million users and has been approached by over a thousand employers to recruit candidates.
Founded in 2013 in Finland, the company had obtained an investment of $1.96 million in 2016 to support its expansion on the African market.
