Lawyers based in the Bristol office of regional firm Ashfords have advised Route 1 International – described as the Tinder of the legal talent industry – on a £275,000 seed funding round.
London-based Route 1 International – in which Ashfords itself invested two years ago – uses marketplace technology to deliver matched jobs to candidates in the legal sector in the UK and Australia.
Its beta testing led to adoption by more than 9,000 candidates and 200 employers matching on 100,000 job views.
Now Route1, based on the Google Campus in Shoreditch, is continuing to develop its platform, enhancing its algorithms to make them more flexible and adding machine learning features, building content partnerships to further enhance user experience and strengthening its GDPR credentials as a discreet, direct, candidate led tool for legal job seekers.
It describes itself as a marketplace rather than an agency and aims to use technology to disrupt its traditional industry in the same way as AirBnB, Kayak and Uber have.
The funding round was led by London-based private investment company JLR Star.
The Ashfords team included associate Ross Van de Velde and trainee solicitor Holly Lawrence and was led by Andrew Betteridge.
Andrew said: “We are delighted to work with Route1 on this round and to help with their continued growth. As investors, we are also delighted to see this further funding to enable the continued growth and success of the business.”
Ashfords invested in Route 1 – then a start-up – in February 2016 as part of a round with a syndicate of experienced angel investors. At the time it was the law firm’s first external investment.
JLR Star was represented by Peter Weiss at London firm Simons Muirhead & Burton.
Route1 founder and CEO James Cole, who worked as a lawyer in London and New York on corporate transactions, said: “We are pleased to have closed this round in record time and with the usual excellent service from Ashfords. These funds will enable Route1 to further leverage its technology solution for clients and candidates in the post GDPR legal recruitment environment.”
Ashfords also has offices in Exeter, London, Plymouth, Taunton and Tiverton.
