“We didn’t grow by chasing volume”
At this year’s DJAx Awards, Placed was named Scale-Up of the Year.
The judges were impressed not just by the company’s growth figures, but by the way it has scaled sustainably – expanding internationally, growing revenues and winning major enterprise clients while remaining focused on quality and performance.
We spoke to Jennifer Johansson about the journey from ambitious start-up to global recruitment technology business.
“The growth has been significant, but very deliberate”
How has Placed grown over the last two years?
The business has moved from early-stage growth into genuine scale.
Between 2025 and 2026 we achieved 112% year-on-year revenue growth.
What’s particularly important is that the growth wasn’t driven by one-off wins or short-term spikes. It came from consistent month-on-month performance, strong client retention and increasing investment from existing customers.
That gave us confidence that we weren’t simply growing quickly – we were building something sustainable.
“International expansion changed the business”
What role has expansion played?
A huge one.
We expanded into the US and Europe towards the end of 2024 and today international revenue represents the majority of our income.
The US now accounts for 46% of revenue, Europe 10% and the UK 44%.
What’s particularly encouraging is that overseas growth didn’t come at the expense of our home market. UK revenue still grew by 40% year-on-year.
That showed us the model could scale internationally while continuing to perform strongly in existing markets.
“Enterprise clients trusted us with bigger challenges”
How has your customer base evolved?
We’ve seen significant growth among enterprise employers.
We renewed major partnerships with organisations including Royal Mail, Evri, DPD and Stuart, while also winning new clients such as Vets for Pets, Ministry of Justice, Iceland, Halfords, G4S and Popeyes.
In many cases, clients increased their investment because they saw measurable improvements in hiring outcomes.
For example, Vets for Pets increased its investment significantly as performance continued to improve, while G4S increased spend fourfold after seeing strong results.
That’s probably one of the clearest indicators of success for us.
“Growth only works if the team grows with it”
How have you maintained culture while scaling?
We’ve been very conscious that growth can put pressure on teams if it’s not managed properly.
That’s why we’ve invested heavily in Product and Technology, strengthening our infrastructure and ensuring our delivery capability keeps pace with demand.
We’ve also worked hard to maintain a strong culture around ownership, accountability and collaboration.
One example was bringing the whole team together in Barcelona to celebrate achievements, reflect on lessons learned and align on future priorities.
As we’ve expanded internationally, creating opportunities for people to work with new markets, attend conferences and meet clients has also become an important part of professional development.
“Performance remains the foundation”
What has been the impact on clients?
Ultimately, growth only matters if it creates value for customers.
For clients, the impact has been stronger hiring outcomes, improved ROI and access to larger candidate pools across multiple markets.
Organisations including DPD, Evri and Royal Mail have all seen measurable improvements in recruitment performance through their partnerships with Placed.
That continued success is why many clients have increased investment and made Placed a core part of their talent attraction strategy.
“We still think like a scale-up”
Why do you think the judges chose Placed?
I think it’s because the growth has been built around performance rather than hype.
We’ve expanded internationally, diversified revenue streams, grown our client base and strengthened the team – but we’ve done it while staying focused on what matters most: helping employers hire better.
The business is bigger today than it was two years ago, but the mindset remains the same.
Keep improving. Keep learning. Keep delivering measurable results.
For the judges, Placed demonstrated that sustainable growth isn’t just about getting bigger. It’s about scaling in a way that strengthens the business, benefits customers and creates long-term value.