The original idea was to create a digital solution that would allow companies to recruit technology teams that already worked together in another company. But the developers Antonio Santiago and Felipe Saal and the web designer David Mundo ended up settling for something less ambitious in principle: to make it easier for firms to hire in a sector with almost full employment such as programming. The professionals sometimes received dozens of offers each month, but few interested them, so they saw it clearly: they had to send each one only the most similar ones and try to obtain a profit from the intermediation.
This is how Joppy was born in 2018. Its founders had met a couple of years earlier on LetGo, a second-hand sales platform similar to Wallapop, and from there they went en bloc to the Catalan ad aggregator Trovit. A movement that, according to Mundo by video call, allowed them to “learn about another type of entrepreneurship.” “I think that even then we had in mind, especially me, to leave behind a company that grew and grew based on receiving financing, with hardly any money coming in, and to be able to learn from another that prioritized profitability.” With 150,000 euros invoiced in 2021 and a forecast that includes making profits this year, one of the objectives of these entrepreneurs based in Barcelona is to materialize this philosophy in Joppy.
The platform they have created works like the top dating apps. The programmer enters his specific profile, the language or languages he speaks, the salary he wants and if he wants to telecommute, and begins to receive the offers that fit him. Finally, a chat opens with those to whom he has given the go-ahead. “We have 40,000 developers and about 1,000 registered companies, from start-ups very technological to larger companies such as the consulting firm NTT Group [la antigua Everis] or the Mango textile group”, he reveals.
Joppy facilitates between 10 and 15 monthly incorporations. Originally, they received 999 euros for each signed contract, but now they charge 7.5% of the worker’s gross annual salary. A “change of strategy” as a result of a reflection that also made them incorporate Nico Bour, founder of Uvinum, as a fourth partner (and CEO). “The business part weighed on us,” concedes the entrepreneur, and assures that they were undervaluing themselves with a very low rate. Recruitment agencies actually charge quite a bit more. According to Mundo, “between 15% and 25% of the signed salary”, which for programmers with between 3 and 5 years of experience is around 45,000 euros gross. But the hiring market is a very saturated market, and that is why Joppy chooses to compete on price. However, Mundo believes that their large number of subscribers strengthens them and they will soon opt for steps such as Circular, a competitor specialized in incorporating technological talent, which has just raised seven million in financing.
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