Young people can get shares in a start-up tech company by creating their own user profile.
Vonkel has been created by Manchester entrepreneur Dan Kelsall and is aimed at young people who want a better way to stand out from the crowd than the traditional CV.
The iOS app uses Vonks – 1-60 second videos – to connect young people with industry experts and employers within their favourite brands. Users can watch employer Vonks before sending their own.
They can also search for organisations looking to recruit or support young people in their professional development, connect with mentors and start a Q&A session using the inbuilt chat portal.
Kelsall, who has a background in design and recruitment, said: “Vonkel is more than a recruitment app. CVs and written applications favour the highly qualified and those with keyword-rich experience, two things that young people often lack.
“Videos are honest – young people immediately know whether they could work with that employer, and employers know whether that young person would fit within their culture.
“It often takes much less than 60 seconds to make that decision, saving time for both parties.”
Vonkel has already brought on experts from TalkTalk, Deloitte, McCann London, Mamas and Papas and NatWest, to support users.
And to encourage young users to get as much out of the platform as possible, Kelsall is giving a share of the Vonkel company to the first 5,000 new registrations.
Kelsall said: “We’re not just building a tool to help young people find better opportunities. We want them to build it with us and be rewarded accordingly.
“We really want them to feel as though they’re part of something.”
To support the development of Vonkel, Kelsall joined the Entrepreneurial Spark Powered By NatWest programme based at NatWest’s offices in Hardman Boulevard.
Run alongside partners KPMG Enterprise, Dell EMC and Pinsent Masons, Entrepreneurial Spark is the world’s largest free business accelerator for start-up and scale up businesses and has provided free support, mentoring, networking and office accommodation for hundreds of businesses in hubs or ‘Hatcheries’ across the UK.
Kelsall said: “It’s been a positive experience for us. NatWest’s Head of Enterprise Gordon Merrylees loves the product and is giving young entrepreneurs with business ideas the opportunity to pitch themselves to his team using the app.”
Dale Sidebottom, Entrepreneur Development Manager at NatWest, said: “Vonkel is a fantastic platform that has the potential to really effect change for young people. We wish the business every success for the future.”
Vonkel is available on the Apple App Store from February 2017.