Jobillico, an online job market based in Quebec City, announced that it has raised $8 million to further drive its expansion.
The funding was led by Capital régional et cooperatif Desjardins, a subsidiary of the Desjardins cooperative financial group, with participation from private investors. Though the company said that Jobillico is looking to expand westward, it wasn’t specific about what city or region. Currently, the company posts jobs in cities like Montreal, Laval, Quebec City, Toronto — where it opened an office last fall — and Mississauga.
“With the great response we are already experiencing in Ontario, this financing will further boost our expansion,” said Serge Lavallée, Jobillico’s finance VP and co-founder. “It will also allow us to further develop our products and technologies and tailor them to our clients’ needs as well as strengthen our position of leadership in Québec.”
Currently, 6,000 businesses and 650,000 people use Jobillico, while the platform receives 16 million visitors a year. The service is popular in its home province, where it received the New Business and Business of the Year at the 2015 edition of the Fidéides, which are business awards given by the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Quebec.
“This is a milestone for us. The huge changes in the employment market initially inspired a business model designed to allow employers to recruit differently. Nowadays, an employer can’t just post a job when a vacancy needs to be filled. Who’s to say if the best potential candidate is out looking for a job when you happen to post?” said Nicholas Chabot, president and co-founder. “You could be days too late or months early. Your paths will never meet. You need to be visible to the whole pool of potential hires year-round and you need to promote yourself as a great employer. This approach has allowed us to revolutionize web recruiting and to build an expanding community of talent in Canada.”