German start-up portal Jobspotting eyes Asia expansion
Berlin-based portal partially funded by Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures seen as example of co-operation between Hong Kong and Germany
The Berlin-based technology start-up that caught the attention of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, is looking east for expansion but only if the right local partners can be found.
Robin Eric Haak, co-founder and chief operating officer of job hunting portal Jobspotting, said besides China, other Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore show high growth potential.
"There's a demand [for] digitisation, with more tech and marketing jobs in Asia," said Haak, adding that Hong Kong has the potential to be the central point linking these markets. "Next year, when we feel comfortable, we will definitely expand to Asia."
Founded by former employees of Google and digital publishing house Axel Springer in 2013, Jobspotting secured a "six-digit euros" investment in April from Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures, which has previously invested in global tech companies such as Facebook, Skype and Spotify.
Dubbed the "Spotify for jobs", Haak said the company developed smart technology to generate graphic analysis and intelligence drawing from available data. The portal makes unique job recommendations that are almost tailor made for each individual user.
Haak said the Li deal was initiated in October last year and finalised in April. "Normally [Horizons Ventures] doesn't do this kind of super small deal in Germany. But when they finally agreed, we were very proud," he said.
Haak said Jobspotting has 40 per cent of returning users each month, a high percentage for a start-up. "The job culture has changed. People change jobs every two years and always look for better opportunities," Haak said.