A start up using artificial intelligence technology to support recruitment processes has secured an investment of €30,000 from the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC).

Nine firms pitched to a panel of investors at the NDRC investor day on Wednesday, in sectors ranging from audio technology developments to self-cleaning cameras for the mining industry.

The winner, Opening.io, applies data science at the entry point of the recruitment process to inform recruiters and hiring managers who to speak to first and why.

By automating the pre-screening process, recruiters can shortlist relevant candidates in minutes as opposed to 10-24 hours.

This enhances productivity and reduces both cost and time to hire. It enables one-click CV acquisition, analysis, discovery and filtering of “candidate noise” for recruiters.

The NDRC has sourced, built and invested in over 200 companies to date, which collectively have a combined market value of over €400 million and employ almost 700 people directly including 127 international jobs.

NDRC chief executive Ben Hurley said Opening.io has “a compelling proposition, clear target market with existing customers and refined commercial projections”.

“With their vision and determination, they have an extremely bright future ahead and this also illustrates how digital transformation is impacting all sectors of the Irish economy including human resourcing and recruitment in this instance,” he said.

“It’s clear from the quality of all the propositions here today that there is a vibrant entrepreneurial culture in Ireland where we see a pipeline of high potential companies and continuously strong investor interest in NDRC’s portfolio.”

Separately, the NDRC recently announced a partnership with Enterprise Ireland, Portershed and Galway City Innovation District to run an intensive regional accelerator programme for digital companies in Galway and the Western region.