Recruitment site Jobbio has caught the eyes of the Smurfit family, which has been piling into the business founded by Irish brothers Stephen and John Quinn.

Jobbio provides job hunters and brands with a private marketplace to connect, and the platform works online or on mobile. Users post ‘bios’ that include videos and other media to support their job candidature.

Jobbio raised almost €1.5m in seed capital funding with a July allotment. The private investors included Michael Smurfit Jnr (€25,000), Smurfit Kappa boss Tony Smurfit (€25,000) and Bacchantes Ltd (€50,000), an Isle of Man holding company operated by the Smurfit family.

MXC Holdings contributed €152,000 to Jobbio’s latest round, while other investors included Isle of Man-based firm Taggia Ltd (€400,000), Virgin Islands-based Montilla International Corporation (€300,000), AIB Seed Capital Fund (€200,000) and Ekstone Capital (€100,000).

Other private investors included former Grafton Group boss Michael Chadwick (€100,000), Donal O’Shaughnessy (€27,000) and Padraig Shanley (€50,000).

In Association with

In 2014, Jobbio tapped Enterprise Ireland for €250,000, after the founders and friends invested €193,000. Prior to the funding round MXC Capital was already into Jobbio for €180,000.

Jobbio’s founders are trying to expand the firm into the US and UK markets, having already signed up big-name firms such as Dropbox, Ryanair, Airbnb and Hailo to the platform. Jobbio claims that over 100,000 applicants are currently registered on the site.

The Jobbio operating company, Avar Communications Ltd, booked a loss of €242,000 in the year to July 2014, when year-end net worth was €11,000.

Tony Smurfit (left) with Smurfit Kappa colleague Gary McGann