BGF backs Sheffield-headquartered Tribepad with £12m investment

Tribepad, a leading talent acquisition software provider, has secured a £12m investment from BGF.

Founded in Sheffield in 2008, Tribepad has developed a best-of-breed talent acquisition platform which supports the end-to-end hiring process for some of Britain’s leading enterprises. Its software is used by over 125 in-house talent acquisition teams at organisations including Tesco, the BBC, Grant Thornton, Subway and NHS Professionals.

Tribepad helps hiring teams improve speed and efficiency in talent acquisition and address any potential bias to improve the overall recruitment experience for both candidates and hiring managers. Tribepad’s talent acquisition platform combines Application Tracking System technology with recruitment advertising, video interviewing, employee onboarding, data insights and equality, diversity and inclusion tools. Today, more than 25 million people worldwide use Tribepad’s software to power their job searches.

The need for technology to support traditional recruitment processes was brought to the fore during the pandemic, while an increasingly transient and shrinking UK labour force has been driving acute talent shortages across many sectors in recent years. With BGF’s investment, Tribepad will be able to scale its offering, enabling even more companies to recruit the right people effectively and fairly, as well as developing new features and functionality that will enhance the overall user experience.

Commenting on the deal, Tribepad’s CEO, Dean Sadler, said: “Tribepad is driven by the simple aim of making the recruitment process better and fairer for everyone. Our software is proven to generate positive outcomes for candidates and employers, so that the right people are hired for the right jobs. Having grown the business organically since inception, we wanted to find an investment partner that understood our proposition, recognised the market potential and could help turbo-charge Tribepad’s growth. BGF’s team have delivered on this from the start, and I look forward to working closely with them on the next stage of Tribepad’s growth journey.”

The deal was led by Rob Johnson and Linda Nguyenova, investors in BGF’s Yorkshire team.

As part of the investment, Andy McRae – part of BGF’s Talent Network – has been appointed as non-executive chair. He brings a wealth of experience from across the recruitment and technology sectors, having previously worked with a range of PE-backed businesses and entrepreneurs.

The deal will also see Tribepad’s co-founders Alexis Twigg and Dan Kirkland step down from their roles to pursue other interests.

BGF’s Rob Johnson said: “Tribepad has built a feature-rich platform that’s helping organisations across the country improve their ability to source and attract talent. The business is well-positioned to capitalise on favourable market tailwinds that are driving ever greater adoption of recruitment technologies as organisations look to succeed in what is an extremely tight labour market. With the support of BGF and Andy McRae as non-executive chair, I’m excited to see what Dean and the team can achieve and I look forward to working closely with the business over the next few years.”