Paralysed by the effect of Covid-19 restrictions, tech company Recroot has pivoted its online offering to the hospitality sector to provide a non-profit platform selling vouchers to be redeemed after the crisis.

The company usually provides hiring services, including a video-based platform, to the hospitality sector, but with bars, cafes and restaurants closed all over Europe its market dried up.

Hence the idea for ‘Vouch For’ which Recroot says will allow customers help their favourite cafe or eatery weather the storm.

Given that margins in hospitality are tight, Vouch For says it has teamed up with Stripe to offer commission-free transactions and to help independent outlets with cashflow issues to stay afloat while the crisis continues.

Recroot has issued an open invitation to independent outlets across Ireland to sign up for the service at its new dedicated website.

In Association with

Co-founder Nev Flynn said: “There is a huge generosity of spirit and sense of community right now in Ireland, and we want to do our part to help our community cafés, bars and restaurants through this crisis. We are calling for businesses to sign up, and for customers to support them,  during these times.”

Restaurants and cafes signed so far include Cabana Café, Carpe Diem Café, Chimac, Cocobrew, Alma, Foam, Kale & Coco, Meltdown, Pot Bellied Pig, Say Fish, Shaka Poké, Soup, Tang, The Fat Fox, and The Lazy Bean.

Recroot had just been accepted onto the Techstars Accelerator in Berlin, and had closed a pre-seed round to expand its operations into mainland Europe, when Covid-19 hit. The expansion is on hold, of course, but the team felt it had to act in some way to provide assistance to its existing clients.

Photo: Recruit founders Nev Flynn (left) and Cian Farrell