One morning, in February 2021, Alexandra Chirica woke up with an idea that would change her trajectory. It wasn’t a day for business as usual. She’d been mulling over the gaps she saw in the recruitment industry, particularly in the Fintech startup world, and suddenly, the concept for Recfindr clicked into place.
By the time she officially launched her platform two years later, her path from a young immigrant navigating the British education system to a tech founder had been anything but linear—yet it was a story of tenacity, reinvention, and a deep desire to make meaningful change.
Alexandra’s journey began in Romania, where she spent the first seven years of her life. When her family moved to England in 2003, she was thrust into primary school with no knowledge of English. “I think I was drawing everything for people to understand what I was saying,” she recalls. The experience, though challenging, instilled a resilience and adaptability that would become hallmarks of her character.
Her academic path took her to a university where she majored in English literature. But rather than following a traditional route into law, as she once imagined, she found herself in recruitment. What started as a bet to prove to her father that she could secure a job quickly turned into a burgeoning career. She landed a position at Aston Carter, enduring grueling full-day interview processes and stiff competition.
“It was brutal,” Alexandra says, describing the elimination-style recruitment process. “But I stuck with it. Recruitment appealed to me because of the human aspect—talking to people every day, learning their stories. It’s a sales job, yes, but one grounded in relationships.”
In her early roles, Alexandra gravitated toward Fintech recruitment. It was a burgeoning industry that intrigued her, not least because the traditional approaches to business development didn’t work. “These startups didn’t have switchboards or addresses. You couldn’t just pick up the phone and get through,” she explains. Her approach was innovative: hosting events and leveraging content marketing to build warmer, more personal connections.
By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, Alexandra was ready for something new. Frustrated by her employer’s focus on rigid KPIs and cold outreach, she struck out on her own. “I spent the first three months just helping candidates,” she says. “I created resources, shared CV tips, and engaged with people in the community. That’s how my first business, Teil, really took off.”
The spark for Recfindr
While Teil offered a degree of independence, Alexandra’s mind was constantly turning over ideas for bigger changes in the recruitment world. The inspiration for Recfindr came in early 2021, coinciding with Bumble’s IPO, which she credits as an unexpected influence. The idea was straightforward: create a platform where Fintech startups and other small companies could easily connect with niche recruitment agencies. The goal was to bridge the gap for smaller recruiters who didn’t have the resources for high-budget marketing campaigns, leveling the playing field.
The platform’s development process was anything but straightforward. Delays stretched the project timeline from one year to 18 months, and Alexandra’s days were consumed by learning the intricacies of product development and working with developers. “I didn’t know how to talk to developers or manage delays,” she says. “But I learned. When we finally launched, it was like a weight lifted—but then I realized the hard part was just beginning.”
Recently Recfindr raised £300,000, through a funding round led by SFC Capital, the UK’s leading SEIS fund for innovative startups, which has previously backed other cutting-edge ventures like Laennec AI and Magic AI. High-profile angel investors, including Ezequiel Canestrari, the European COO of Clearbank, also joined the round. Canestrari himself has used the platform and expressed confidence in its transformative potential.
The UK is home to more than 30,000 recruitment agencies, with 80% operating as boutique firms of fewer than ten employees. These smaller agencies often specialize in niche industries like fintech, AI, biotech, and healthcare. However, their potential is frequently overlooked, as hiring managers tend to gravitate toward large corporate recruiters.
Why? Because onboarding and managing boutique agencies can be time-consuming and complicated. This disconnect limits employers’ access to highly specialized talent pools, which are crucial for industries where expertise is non-negotiable.
According to Ed Stevenson, Investment Executive at SFC Capital, the high number of vacancies in sectors such as fintech shows that new approaches in recruitment are required to meet the demands of the UK’s fastest-growing industries.
“Alexandra combines deep industry knowledge with real ambition and commitment. We are delighted to have invested in Recfindr and have every confidence in the company’s future success” he added
The personal touch
Central to Alexandra’s philosophy is the power of personal branding. Early on, she recognized that consistently sharing helpful content on LinkedIn could differentiate her in a crowded field. By identifying common challenges her candidates faced, she was able to create actionable advice that resonated widely.
“At first, I didn’t realize the impact it was having,” she says. “But when people started reaching out to me directly, saying they remembered my posts, I knew I was onto something. Building a personal brand isn’t just about putting out content; it’s about creating trust and familiarity.”
Her dedication to community-building also influenced Recfindr’s ethos. The platform isn’t just about transactions; it’s about fostering connections. For instance, recruiters who can’t fill a role can use Recfindr to find and recommend a colleague who can. “It’s all about collaboration over competition,” Alexandra explains.
Since its launch, Recfindr has gained traction among small recruitment agencies and Fintech startups. But Alexandra acknowledges the uphill battle of changing ingrained habits in the recruitment world. “There’s a huge education piece,” she says. “Recruiters have been using the same processes for decades, but how people buy has changed. BD needs to evolve.”
Part of her strategy is partnering with Fintech communities like Crypto UK and Women of Fintech to increase the platform’s visibility and credibility. “The feedback loop is so important,” she notes. “We’re constantly refining our messaging and approach based on what we’re learning.”
For Alexandra, Recfindr is a way to address inequities she’s observed in the recruitment industry, especially for smaller players. “I’ve been there,” she says. “I know what it’s like to be the underdog, to feel invisible. Recfindr is about giving those people a platform to shine.”
As she looks ahead, Alexandra remains focused on scaling the platform while staying true to its core mission. “There’s so much potential to expand,” she says, “but the key is to stay focused. One step at a time.”
