Strategic COO and finance hires for SmartCap
SmartCap is a fund manager on a mission to develop Estonia’s venture capital market, invest strategically throughout economic cycles, and address identified market gaps.
Project in numbers
The story
SmartCap has operated since 2011 and manages two funds: the SmartCap Venture Capital Fund, which supports Estonian startups by backing VC funds, and the SmartCap Green Fund, which invests in Greentech-focused VC funds and companies.
Notable start-ups in SmartCap’s investment portfolio include UP Catalyst, Bisly, Paul-Tech, and Cuploop, among many more. The VC Investment portfolio includes Plural Fund II, Antler Nordic Fund II, Superangel II, and many more.
Finance/VC
Industry
smartcap.ee
Website
Hiring challenge
Building a strong talent pool
The main hiring challenge was building a consistent pipeline of top experts from the startup and venture capital landscape.
SmartCap turned to TalentHub for hiring help because they needed to achieve clarity by mapping out their exact recruitment needs. This required pinpointing the skills and experience necessary for each role.
Roles hired:
Senior Investment Analyst, Junior Investment Analyst, Investment Manager, Risk and Compliance Manager, Executive Assistant, Legal Counsel, and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Hiring process
1. Candidate profile refining
Before diving into talent sourcing, we worked with SmartCap to map out the ideal candidate profiles and craft clear job descriptions. For some positions, we combined targeted headhunting with a public job posting to reach the best candidates.
2. Sourcing candidates
We sourced candidates from both local and European markets, achieving a 60% response rate by using three touchpoints: LinkedIn, phone calls, and emails.
3. Screening call
The screening call was designed to evaluate the candidate’s key character traits and skills. For SmartCap, it was crucial that candidates demonstrated strong competency and experience in the financial sector.
4. Interview with hiring manager
SmartCap was satisfied with the level of the candidates we submitted throughout the process. In some cases, our recruiters helped SmartCap conduct interviews.
5. Case study
The remaining candidates underwent a final assessment during which they had to present their home task to the team.
6. Offer stage
The final step included making an offer to the selected candidates. We achieved a 100% offer acceptance rate in this project.
The results
Great candidate engagement
Our decisions between combining headhunting and publishing job adverts have proven successful. With a 60% candidate response rate across 7 roles, and a 100% offer acceptance rate we focused on quality over quantity and approached the right talent.
Efficient hiring process
Our hiring process has been simple yet effective. With everything carefully planned, from async collaboration, to interview scheduling and feedback loops, we achieved a time-to-hire of 47 days.
Strong cultural hires
We clearly communicated the growth opportunities and benefits of working in a smaller, evolving team. This approach ensured new hires had realistic expectations and were excited about their roles.
Got a similar hiring project? Book a free consultation with us today.
Piret Ulm
Partner Lead/Recruitment Partner
piret@talenthub.ee