Firefish Software
Firefish Software is a UK-based cloud recruitment CRM provider serving 600+ independent and mid-market recruitment agencies with unified workflows for permanent, temporary, and contract desks, AI-powered matching and CV parsing via Azure OpenAI, and built-in UK compliance automation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Firefish Software does
Firefish Software is a UK-based provider of cloud-based recruitment CRM software, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. The platform is designed specifically for UK independent and mid-market recruitment agencies (typically 1–200 users) managing permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment workflows within a single unified database. Core modules cover business development (lead management, outbound sequencing, waterfall enrichment), search and match, AI and automation, multi-channel conversations (SMS, WhatsApp, email, VOIP), analytics with peer benchmarking, and dedicated workflows for each of the three recruitment desk types, with UK-specific compliance automation for Agency Workers Regulations and GDPR subscription management.
The product is built on Microsoft Azure, with AI capabilities (Match AI, CV parsing, advert generation, record summaries, enrichment agents) delivered via Microsoft Azure OpenAI Services under a data-residency and no-training arrangement. Firefish monetises through three annual subscription tiers — Basic (£80/user/month), Professional (£90/user/month), and Enterprise (£105/user/month) — with additional revenue from add-on modules (Websites from £150/month, Email Plugin +£250/month). Go-to-market is sales-led, combining field sales for enterprise deployments, inside sales for mid-market, and self-serve demo booking for SMB, supported by a no-fee integration marketplace of 50+ partners spanning job boards, back-office, and BD tools.
Following 13 years of organic growth, Firefish secured its first institutional capital in April 2023 — a £4 million strategic investment led by Foresight Group — which funded a ~20% headcount expansion focused on product development and a five-times increase in feature release velocity. The company is trusted by 600–700 UK recruitment agencies and reports operations across 25+ countries.
Firefish Software firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Firefish Software
- Legal name
- Firefish Software Ltd
- Website
- https://firefishsoftware.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Firefish Software is a UK-based cloud recruitment CRM provider serving 600+ independent and mid-market recruitment agencies with unified workflows for permanent, temporary, and contract desks, AI-powered matching and CV parsing via Azure OpenAI, and built-in UK compliance automation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Firefish Software industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Recruitment CRM Software
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sales Force Automation (SFA) CRM (HDAEAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG)
Keywords
Where Firefish Software is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Firefish Software business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Licensing: Annual subscription model based on per-user-per-month pricing with three tiers (Basic, Professional, Enterprise). Additional modules available as add-ons including Websites and Email Plugin.
- Additional Modules: Optional add-on modules including Websites (starting from £150/month) and Email Plugin for Outlook and Gmail (+£250/month)
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Annual | Basic tier at £80/user/month (annual billing) |
| Per seat | Annual | Professional tier at £90/user/month (annual billing) |
| Per seat | Annual | Enterprise tier at £105/user/month (annual billing) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Firefish Software product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Firefish sells a unified cloud-based recruitment CRM platform that lets UK recruitment agencies manage permanent, temporary and contract recruitment workflows from a single database, including candidate and client records, job workflows, business development, multi-channel conversations, AI-powered matching, and real-time analytics. It is offered as a per-user-per-month annual subscription across Basic, Professional and Enterprise tiers, with add-on modules including Firefish Websites and an Email Plugin for Outlook and Gmail.
Product overview
Firefish Software offers a unified recruitment CRM platform (Firefish Recruitment CRM) designed for UK recruitment agencies managing permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment. The platform combines core modules (Business Development, Search & Match, AI & Automation, Conversations, Analytics, Job Workflows) with add-on modules (Firefish Websites, Candidate Portal, Hiring Manager Portal, and Marketplace). The core CRM manages candidates, clients, jobs, and placements while dedicated workflows handle each recruitment type. AI capabilities powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI support job advert generation, CV parsing, candidate matching, and data enrichment. Pricing tiers include Basic (£80/user/month), Professional (£90/user/month), and Enterprise (£105/user/month), with additional costs for Websites and Email Plugin modules.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Firefish Recruitment CRM Unified cloud-based recruitment CRM platform that lets UK recruitment agencies manage candidates, clients, contacts, companies, jobs, placements and communications across permanent, temporary and contract recruitment workflows. Delivered as a SaaS subscription with Basic (£80/user/month), Professional (£90/user/month) and Enterprise (£105/user/month) tiers, each with annual billing and increasing access to dashboards, compliance features and AI capabilities.
- Firefish Websites Recruitment agency website builder add-on module with branded templates, content modules, an integrated jobs page, automated job alerts and SEO optimisation. Integrated with the Firefish CRM and sold separately from the core subscription starting from £150 per month.
- Email Plugin for Outlook and Gmail Add-on productivity module for Firefish that integrates with Microsoft Outlook and Gmail to sync email conversations, auto-log emails against candidate, client and job records, and streamline recruiter inbox activity. Sold as an additional module priced at +£250 per month on top of the core subscription.
Quantifiable outcome
- 15% reduction in operational costs
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Firefish Software
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Firefish Software technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration20 records
AI capability8 records
Feature10 records
Firefish Software partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- SourceWhalecoreIntegration announced September 2023. Enables import of candidates, contacts and companies from SourceWhale into Firefish with automatic profile creation or existing record updates. Also imports GDPR preferences and reflects marketing activity.
- LinkedIncoreLinkedIn extension allows recruiters to speak to multiple contacts and add them directly to the database. IntaPeople case study highlighted LinkedIn extension as instrumental for their sourcing processes.
- XerocoreBack office and payroll integration partner for temp and contract recruitment billing workflows.
- RingoverminorJoint recruitment BD playbook content partnership. Ringover is a cloud communications platform integrated with Firefish.
- IndeedcoreJob board integration through multiposter for amplifying job ad reach.
- CV-LibrarycoreJob board integration through multiposter for candidate attraction.
- ReedcoreJob board integration through multiposter for candidate attraction.
- TotaljobscoreJob board integration through multiposter for candidate attraction. X1 Jobs sister sites also included.
- Microsoft Azure OpenAIcoreAI features leverage Microsoft Azure OpenAI Services. Customer data is not used to train, retrain, or improve AI models. Data processing occurs within Firefish's controlled Azure environments.
- DeloitteminorCorporate finance adviser to Firefish for the £4m strategic investment transaction.
- Addleshaw GoddardminorLegal adviser to Firefish for the £4m strategic investment transaction.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Firefish Software competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- JobAdder: JobAdder is a recruitment CRM/ATS platform serving staffing agencies across perm, temp, and contract recruitment. It overlaps with Firefish on customer type (recruitment agencies), workflow functionality, and per-user subscription pricing, though it is more APAC-focused.
- Crelate: Crelate is a recruitment CRM and ATS for staffing firms and executive search agencies, offering pipeline management, search, and reporting. It is comparable to Firefish in serving independent and mid-market recruiting firms with multi-desk workflows and CRM-centric positioning.
- Recruiterflow: Recruiterflow is a CRM and ATS platform designed for recruiting agencies, with multi-channel outreach, AI-assisted sourcing, and workflows for perm/contract recruiting. It competes directly with Firefish in the mid-market recruitment CRM segment, particularly with SMB and mid-sized staffing firms.
- Loxo: Loxo is an AI-driven recruitment CRM/ATS for staffing agencies and talent acquisition teams, with AI-powered sourcing, candidate matching, and CRM functionality. It overlaps with Firefish in serving recruitment agencies with a CRM-first platform and AI-augmented workflows.
- Bullhorn: Bullhorn is the leading global CRM/ATS platform purpose-built for the staffing and recruitment industry, serving agencies of all sizes. It is the most direct competitor to Firefish, with overlapping customer base (recruitment agencies), comparable workflow depth for perm/temp/contract desks, and a similar sales-led GTM motion to staffing firms.
- Vincere: Vincere is a recruitment CRM/ATS built specifically for recruitment agencies, with workflows for perm, temp, and contract desks. Like Firefish, it targets independent and mid-market agencies globally, and is one of the closest direct competitors in the recruitment CRM niche.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot: HubSpot offers a CRM platform with sales, marketing, and operations hubs that recruitment agencies can use for BD, pipeline, and client management. As a broad incumbent CRM with strong inbound marketing tools, it competes for the same recruitment agency customers as Firefish, particularly smaller agencies.
- Salesforce: Salesforce is the dominant general-purpose CRM platform with recruitment-industry clouds, AppExchange partners, and AI features (Einstein). It is a broad incumbent competitor whose CRM, sales automation, and analytics capabilities can be configured to support recruitment agencies, especially larger ones, in competition with Firefish.
Emerging players
- SourceWhale: SourceWhale is an outreach and prospecting platform popular with recruitment agencies for BD, email sequencing, and candidate sourcing. It is both a Firefish integration partner and an emerging adjacent player whose functionality overlaps with Firefish's Business Development Module.
- Paiger: Paiger is a recruitment-focused marketing and engagement platform used by agencies for outreach and candidate nurture. It integrates with Firefish and represents an emerging player whose AI-driven engagement features overlap with Firefish's BD and enrichment capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Firefish Software social profiles
Digital presenceFirefish Software compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Firefish Software financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Firefish Software leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Firefish Software funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Firefish Software M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Firefish Software
What does Firefish Software do?
Firefish sells a unified cloud-based recruitment CRM platform that lets UK recruitment agencies manage permanent, temporary and contract recruitment workflows from a single database, including candidate and client records, job workflows, business development, multi-channel conversations, AI-powered matching, and real-time analytics. It is offered as a per-user-per-month annual subscription across Basic, Professional and Enterprise tiers, with add-on modules including Firefish Websites and an Email Plugin for Outlook and Gmail.
Is Firefish Software a public or private company?
Firefish Software is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Firefish Software founded?
Firefish Software was founded in 2010. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Firefish Software based?
Firefish Software is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Firefish Software make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription Licensing is the primary driver. The others are additional Modules.
Who are Firefish Software's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are JobAdder, Crelate, Recruiterflow, Loxo, Bullhorn and Vincere. Broad incumbents are HubSpot and Salesforce. Emerging players are SourceWhale and Paiger.
Does Firefish Software have an API?
Yes. Firefish offers a REST API for custom integrations that allows agencies to connect with third-party software. The API supports two-way data synchronization - agencies can pull data from their CRM and also write data back into Firefish records. Third-party systems can automatically update candidate, contact, and company records. A developer portal is available at developer.firefishsoftware.com. Developer documentation is at developer.firefishsoftware.com.
What industry is Firefish Software in?
Firefish Software's product category is Recruitment CRM Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAFAA, Sales Force Automation (SFA) CRM, with a secondary code of BPACAKAG, Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops). Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.