Isis Innovation-incubated startup Onfido raises cash for online screening service allowing companies quick checks on UK immigrant workers.
Onfido, which graduated from Oxford University’s Isis Innovation Software Incubator, has raised £500,000 ($800,000) in seed funding from investors including the Saïd Business School Entrepreneurship Centre’s seed fund. The startup offers a real-time online screening service that lets employers check if staff are legally allowed to work.
The UK’s Home Office doubled the fine for hiring an illegal employee to £20,000 in May 2014, making background checks even more important. Onfido’s service costs less than a third than traditional background checks, and can screen employee identity, right to work and criminal records.
Onfido has grown to include more than 300 clients across the world, offering identity checks in 28 countries since it began operations eighteen months ago. Its full check costs £26 and identity verification £10. Its turnaround time of four and a half days for criminal record checks significantly undercuts the current industry standard of 10 to 15 days.
Tom Hockaday, managing director of Isis Innovation, said: “Onfido’s digital screening provides a wide range of businesses with confidence and security in their hiring decisions, from large human resources departments to small startup employers. It is great to see another success from the Isis Software Incubator.”
