Korean referral recruitment platform Wanted Lab sets record-high profits for 2Q 2022

Referral recruitment platform company Wanted Lab saw a record high rise in operating profit for the second quarter. The startup announced it recorded 13.8 billion won ($105 million) in sales and 4 billion won ($3 million) in operating profit in the second quarter.

Compared to the same period last year, sales and operating profit increased by 78.1% and 103.1%. The operating profit margin was 28.9%, and the net profit margin was 29.0%, record highs for the quarter.

Sales of Wanted Lab’s recruitment division recorded 12.5 billion won ($9.5 million), up 74.5 % from last year. Key leading indicators also grew for the startup. In particular, with the advancement of the AI recommendation function, the number of applications increased by 58.5% to 401,000, reaching an all-time high. The number of successful applicants was 4,500, and the number of new announcements was 24,000, up 58.2% and 73.0%, respectively.

New businesses push growth

Cumulative sales of 1.73 billion won ($1.32 million) in the first half of this year exceeded last year’s annual sales ($ 1.67 billion won/$1.27 million). Sales from new businesses also continued to grow, recording 1.3 billion won ($99k), doubling from last year’s sales last year. The Giggs division, which provides freelance matching service ‘WantedGigs,’ surpassed 1 billion won ($76k) in sales.

The career and HR solution divisions also grew in key indicators. The number of views of the content service ‘Wanted Plus’ increased by 23.2% QoQ, and the number of community visitors also increased by 21.1%. The number of students who completed the ‘Free Onboarding Course,’ a recruitment-related education project, also increased by 92% compared to the second half of 2021.

‘Wanted Space’ of the HR solution division is also building a solid sales base. As of the second quarter, the number of companies using the platform increased by 65.3% compared to the previous quarter.

Lee Bok-ki, CEO of Wanted Lab, said, “Wanted Lab is leading the recruitment market based on differentiated data and technology. As an HR tech company, we will continue innovating the HR market using AI and other technologies.”

Meanwhile, Wanted Lab actively makes external investments to prepare new growth engines. Last May, it made a seed investment in WhatTime, a SaaS-based scheduling solution operator. It plans to use it for interview schedules and freelance schedule management.

In addition, in July, the startup invested in Weaver, which provides a workshop content platform for companies utilizing the Wanted customer pool. Wanted Lab Partners, an investment subsidiary established earlier this year, is also forming an investment portfolio and exploring potential investment destinations.

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