For the third year running, AXA has partnered up with the Evening Standard in hopes of finding the UK's best new startup business idea through our AXA Startup Angel Competition.
With two top prizes of £25,000 of business funding and first-class mentoring from our AXA Startup Angels on offer, we received an influx of fantastic business ideas and startup pitches. It's never an easy job for our judges to choose the winning ideas, and this year was no different! So, let's meet one of our top prize winners, Bluco, founded by Francisco Shirazi and Nicolò Magnante.
Congratulations again on winning! Can you explain the idea behind Bluco?
Francisco: We’re helping to make the recruitment and application process for deskless workers, essential workers and blue-collar workers far more accessible by allowing them to apply for jobs through WhatsApp. It’s all completely automated, meaning we’re able to pre-screen the applications as well. This means that recruiters from big companies that are hiring will only receive candidates who are right for the role, and they’ll receive more qualified candidates due to it being much more accessible for them to apply.
So, we had a dinner to discuss it more and we really got into it, and that’s when Nicolò said, “Well, what if applying for a job was as easy as sending a message on WhatsApp?”. And that’s when we realised what we should be doing. These workers spend every day on WhatsApp. That’s where they should be doing their applications, not trying to put together CVs on their phone and submit through an online form made for computers.
What inspired you to apply for the AXA Startup Angel competition?
Francisco: Three pretty big standout things. Firstly, the mentors, they have a huge depth of experience in entrepreneurship that I knew would be extremely useful to us on our own journey. The exposure and recognition, in partnering with the Evening Standard as that level of recognition is really important, especially when selling to big companies. And then, of course, the funding. We’ve been doing this bootstrapped, and the money can help us accelerate towards the ambitions we have.
What was the inspiration behind Bluco?
Francisco: Basically, Nicolò was working on a recruitment project for this specific type of worker and noticed the labour shortage in the UK for these roles, particularly after Brexit, and especially with essential workers. Companies were really struggling to fill those roles. From there we really started looking into the issue to work out why it was happening and how it got to this point. And what we realised was that those types of workers are being made to submit the same job application as consultants and bankers etc. Which, as blue-collar workers, makes absolutely no sense. It would be difficult for them to submit CVs and cover letters through their phones, which is what they’re using most of the time.
We've touched on this, but what's the overall goal for Bluco?
Nicolò: I think from one side, speaking for the candidates, it's to help them find a job as soon as possible. And on the other side, from a company's perspective, the objective is to help them find these workers. We want to create a bridge that helps both parties to find each other, and quantifiably get these workers into jobs within a week because of our process.
Francisco: And the bigger term goal is to go international. We want to be the number one way that all of these workers are recruited and apply to jobs, globally. It's a big ambition, but we're putting in the work. So hopefully it pays off!
How did it feel when Bluco's name was called as one of the top prize winners during the awards ceremony?
Francisco: It was enormously encouraging. As soon as I was handed the award, I thought, I want to get straight back to work! You really feel the momentum after an achievement like this, and it says to us that our ambitions aren’t actually that far from being a reality. So, let's get on with this, and get it to where we want to go!
How did you both enjoy the awards night, did you have a chance to network?
Francisco: The event was absolutely brilliant! I had the chance to speak to a lot of the startups, and it was quite humbling. It was really interesting to speak with them to understand how they got started. We felt very privileged, especially to be the winner when you're alongside such strong start-ups in the room. I found the speeches from the mentors very inspiring, and they got me even more excited to get into these meetings with them and get their advice.
How did you family react to Bluco's win?
Francisco: They're extremely proud. Unfortunately, when it comes to building a company from the ground up, you have to make some sacrifices and although it might be quite upsetting to say, part of that sacrifice is not spending as much time with the people close to you, and your family. So, being able to show them that the time that I've sacrificed was actually worth it and paid off, they were extremely happy and proud.
What does the future look like for Bluco? What's next?
Francisco: We’ve now signed three active customers, big enterprises! Which is really exciting as it’s only recently happened in the last few months. Among the customers are telecommunication companies, logistics and transport companies, and a major car manufacturer, helping to recruit car technicians. Car technicians don’t generally have cover letters/CVs, which can cause a real lack in recruitment. And, so, we’re implementing our tech so that they’re able to hire through WhatsApp! That’s quite a big step and hopefully more to come!