Overview
Adzuna aggregates job listings from many different websites (e.g., monster.com) and makes this database of jobs searchable by jobseekers. Adzuna then redirects the job seeker directly to the website where the job was posted (e.g., to a job search aggregating website or to the hiring company’s website) to apply for the job. Adzuna earns revenue from job listing websites and companies paying per-click to have their listing appear in premium locations (e.g., at the top of the search results). As a marketplace business model, Adzuna connects job seekers, who do not pay to look for jobs, and recruiting websites and companies with job offers.
History
Adzuna was founded in 2011 by Andrew Hunter and Doug Monro. Andrew was previously head of marketing for Gumtree and Doug was previously COO of Zoopla. The company received £300,000 from Passion Capital and other angel investors in 2011, £500,000 from Index Ventures and The Accelerator Group in 2012, and £1m from the same investors in 2013. In July 2015, the company raised £2m from over 500 investors through the crowdfunding website Crowdcube. The company now has job listings for 12 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa.
Customers
In this matchmaking business model, the company’s customers are job seekers and job listing websites.
Learn more about the Matchmaking Business Model
You identify two or more customer groups and brings them together in your marketplace.
Engagement — Value Creation Proposition
Adzuna creates value for jobseekers by aggregating offers from a variety of job listing websites and providing these jobs in a searchable database for jobseekers. For the employer, Adzuna provides exposure to a large set of qualified candidates and allows the employer to choose from candidates who make an application, without having to pay a finder’s fee to a recruiter. Value is created, therefore, by providing a marketplace where the two customer groups can “exchange” – that is, where they can transact with one another.
Delivery — Value Chain
Adzuna’s proprietary software and algorithms scan websites for job listings and presents these to job seekers when they search for key terms, locations, job descriptions, etc. In this way, Adzuna can connect a very large number of job opportunities and job seekers. Job listing websites do not have to interact directly with – nor do they need to sign up with – Adzuna in order for Adzuna to access the jobs that they are listing. However, companies and job listing websites can pay Adzuna on a per-click basis to have their listings appear in premium locations (e.g., at the top of the search results).
Monetisation — Value Capture
Adzuna charges companies and job listing websites a small fee each time a job seeker lands on the website of a company that has paid to place its job listing or advertisement on Adzuna’s website. These fees are charged per-click or per-acquisition depending on the arrangement the company or job listing websit has with Adzuna.
Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/21/start-up-of-the-week-adzuna
Company Website: https://www.adzuna.co.uk/
Adzuna Founder’s Posting on Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-business-model-of-these-job-search-sites-How-do-they-make-money
Disclaimer — Written by Rhiannon Ludlow and revised by Francesca Hueller under the direction of Prof Charles Baden-Fuller, Cass Business School. This case is designed to illustrate a business model category. It leverages public sources and is written to further management understanding, and it is not meant to suggest individuals made either correct or incorrect decisions. The information contained here should not be used for investment advice and is simply indicates the individual’s understanding of the company’s business models as of November 2019. © 2019