Customer story
How Safehire financed the R&D and marketing behind its growth
Safehire runs online police checks for Canadians and their employers. Spark Finance found it the capital to build the product and take it national.
- Company
- Safehire
- What it does
- Online criminal record checks
- Financing for
- R&D and marketing
The story
Safehire runs criminal record checks online for people across Canada and for the employers who hire them. An applicant fills in a short form, the check is run against the RCMP's national database through a police partner, and the result usually comes back within 15 minutes.
Growing a business like that takes two things at once: product work to make the check faster and simpler than a trip to the station, and marketing to put it in front of every Canadian who needs one. Both cost money months before they pay for themselves.
Spark Finance took Safehire's application to the Canadian lenders most likely to fund it and found financing for its R&D and its marketing. Safehire put the capital to work on the product and on reaching customers, and grew into a national name in online police checks. Today it says more than a million Canadians trust it.
What Safehire does
A criminal record check without a trip to the police station, for a new job, a volunteer role or a new hire.
$64.99 for a standard check, or $74.99 with rush service.
Get a police check with Safehire →Results in about 15 minutes
Most checks come back within 15 minutes. Busy periods can take a little longer.
The national database
Each check searches the RCMP's CPIC database through Safehire's police partners.
Built for employers
Bulk pricing, vouchers and an organisation portal for teams that check every hire.
Resend it for free
A check you already have can be sent to a new employer at no extra cost.
Six ways growth capital pays for itself
Product and marketing are where a growing business spends before it earns. These are the investments owners most often finance, and the kind of financing each one usually fits.
- 01
Build the product
Engineering, design and testing that make the product faster or simpler than the alternatives, paid for over the months it earns.
Fits: Term loan → - 02
Spend into a channel that works
When an ad channel returns more than it costs, capital lets you spend into it now instead of waiting on last month's revenue.
Fits: Line of credit → - 03
Invest in search
Pages that rank keep bringing customers in long after they are paid for, in every province and city you write for.
Fits: Term loan → - 04
Sell to businesses
A sales hire and an employer portal turn one-off buyers into accounts that order every month.
Fits: Term loan → - 05
Hire ahead of the rush
Support and operations staff hired before the busy season keep service fast when the volume arrives.
Fits: Line of credit → - 06
Equip the team
Computers, phones and the tools a growing team needs, financed against the equipment itself.
Fits: Equipment financing →
Lenders look at revenue history and cash flow. Financing works best behind a product or a channel that already shows it can earn back what it costs.
How it worked
- 1Set the planWhat to build next, and where to market it.
- 2Apply with Spark FinanceOne application, taken to the Canadian lenders most likely to fund a business like Safehire.
- 3Put it to workThe capital went into R&D and marketing.
- 4GrowSafehire became a national name in online police checks.
The people behind Safehire
Chaz Savage
Sales, customer operations and marketing
Former chief customer officer at Sky. Has led operations and growth for media and telecommunications businesses, and built contact centres across Asia-Pacific and Africa.
Ricki Taiaroa
Operations, finance and product
An operations and finance leader with deep experience scaling businesses across Asia-Pacific.
Need a criminal record check for a new job or a new hire? Get one from Safehire.
Fund your next stage of growth
One application to the Canadian lenders most likely to fund an incorporated business like yours. Applying is free, and you can stop at any time.
Spark Finance is a brokerage, not a lender. Financing comes from independent lenders, and every offer is subject to their approval and terms. Safehire provides criminal record checks and is not a lender. Checks are sold and delivered by Safehire under its own terms and are not vulnerable sector checks. The ideas above are general information, not advice about a particular business or property. Read Spark's privacy policy and terms.