When Burberry used Vizzy to run a global campaign instead of using external applications, it proved a “pinch yourself moment” for the trio and a catalyst for the firm’s growth, which has raised more than £7m investment since launch.

Woodward-Jones continued his management consultancy career as Vizzy took shape. With Woodward working full-time on the project, they would meet between 6am and 8am, for an hour in the evening and every Saturday morning. After landing the Burberry deal, the trio went full-time, with Jess acting as client director and Woodward as creative director.

Clive Woodward, who coached England to 2003 Rugby World Cup glory, is also the CEO’s father-in-law. “You get close to understanding how important it is to find the right talent to execute a plan,” admits Woodward-Jones.

“Talent is everywhere and opportunity isn’t. You need the tools and the ability to bring those two together. That is what we are doing and a huge part of that is learning from Clive.”

Woodward-Jones admits that a Vizzy profile would have boosted his own black-and-white, lightweight CV after he finished university. He worked in bars and dug sewers to earn cash and is a fan of musical theatre. Some business owners look at the bottom of CVs first to find talent and Woodward-Jones says that Vizzy, which employs 11 staff members, “flips the CV on its head”.

The platform’s sweet spot demographic is the 18-35 age range but the company said it is also a good option for older applicants.

When it comes to the early careers market, which sees about £270bn spent annually, Woodward-Jones says AI is having an impact. Their figures suggest that more than 60% of CVs and covering letters have some element of AI contribution.

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“It’s hitting a very competitive market hard,” adds Woodward-Jones. “It is widely reported that AI is taking entry-level jobs, with the same number of candidates going for a smaller number of jobs.

“With AI writing the CVs and applications, it’s almost like tech is killing trust and businesses don’t know if they are assessing a human.”

Denis Machuel, CEO of Adecco Group, told the BBC recently that people need to send an average of 200 applications to get a job offer. The recruitment firm uses AI in its candidate pre-screening.

Being a “human-focused hiring solution”, Woodward-Jones sees Vizzy as a step change for its clients due to AI being unable to fill in a profile.

Vizzy claims to deliver screening reductions of between 35% and 75% for its big business clients and has saved 80% of the hiring team’s time.

“When you are talking about 20,000 applications [in some cases], we are delivering a much smaller, higher engaged talent pool,” adds Woodward-Jones.

Tips for raising investment

Passion backed up by conviction shows that you are making progress. The problem we are solving is relatable to a lot of investors. How you talk about it is the No. 1 thing that has to come through.

You have to knock on a lot of doors, and way more than I thought. But once you start to get a bit of proof, you have to knock on fewer doors but prepare harder for them.

The lens through which you are looked at is then slightly different: it is about success, potential, and how thought-out your future is. Passion, drive and enjoyment have to be at the top. Then, preparation and detail will come through in increasing amounts.

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