Gradcracker

What Gradcracker does

Gradcracker is a UK-based online recruitment and career services platform founded in 2007 and headquartered in Easingwold, York. The company operates a B2B2C model that charges employers to advertise STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) opportunities — degree apprenticeships, work placements/internships and graduate roles — and provides STEM students across the UK and Ireland with a free job search and application platform. Its three primary user groups are STEM students (who self-register), STEM employers (who pay to advertise), and universities and STEM student societies (who receive the service free of charge).

The platform is built around an integrated set of web and mobile products: a main career platform with searchable listings (currently 353 employers, 532 placements and 1,221 graduate jobs at time of input), Company Hubs for employer branding, Employer Dashboards with student interaction analytics, University Dashboards for careers advisors, a Student Dashboard ("My Gradcracker") for application tracking, a Career Centre with content resources, live and recorded Webinars with employers, the Gradcracker App (launched 2011), a sponsored 350-page Toolkit, and the 5-Year Club membership program for long-term advertisers. The platform hosts over 350 employers and carries more than 9,000 STEM opportunities on a typical day, with 20,000-35,000 daily visitors averaging over 30,000 during peak recruitment months.

Gradcracker generates revenue through employer advertising subscriptions, with services to universities and student societies provided free. Go-to-market is sales-led, combining outreach to employers for advertising packages, university partnerships for student referrals, and student acquisition through career fairs, campus talks, skills sessions and webinars. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or external ownership, and is independently operated as Gradcracker Limited.

Name

Gradcracker

Legal name

Gradcracker Limited

Website

https://gradcracker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gradcracker is a UK-based online recruitment platform, founded in 2007, that charges STEM employers to advertise degree apprenticeships, placements and graduate roles and connects them with STEM students across the UK and Ireland via a web and mobile career platform, employer dashboards and university partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online STEM Recruitment Platform

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Internship/Apprenticeship Matching & Work-Based Learning Platforms (EDAFAMAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Graduate & Professional School Preparation (EDALABAI), Career Exploration & Job Shadowing Programs (EDAMAKAC)

Keywords

• STEM recruitment platform
• Graduate job board
• Degree apprenticeship listings
• Employer branding services
• Student career portal

Headquarters

HQ city

York

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Employer Advertising Services: Gradcracker generates revenue by charging employers to advertise their degree apprenticeship, placement and graduate opportunities on the platform. Employers pay for advertising space and access to the student talent pool on the Gradcracker platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Gradcracker operates an online recruitment platform that connects STEM students and graduates with employers advertising degree apprenticeships, work placements, internships, and graduate jobs. The company charges employers for advertising access to a curated UK STEM talent pool, while providing universities with free career dashboards, webinars, and resources, and offering students a free career search and application-tracking platform.

Product overview

Gradcracker is a single unified career platform for STEM students in the UK, offering job listings, employer profiles, and recruitment services. The platform consists of multiple integrated modules: the main Gradcracker Platform (job search and applications), Company Hubs (employer profiles), the Gradcracker App (mobile access launched in 2011), Employer Dashboard (for recruiters to track engagement), University Dashboard (for careers advisors), My Gradcracker/Student Dashboard (for tracking applications), Career Centre (career advice content), Gradcracker Webinars (live employer sessions), Gradcracker Toolkit (sponsored careers guide with video/podcast content), STEM Societies (free society hubs), 5-Year Club (premium employer membership), and Gradcracker Talks (on-campus sessions).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gradcracker Platform The main career platform for STEM students, providing job listings, employer profiles, webinars, career advice, and application tracking tools for degree apprenticeship, placement, and graduate roles.
• Employer Dashboard A dashboard for employers providing statistical data on student interaction with their Company Hub, including metrics on visitors, applications, and engagement.
• University Dashboard A dashboard for university careers advisors providing resources from the Gradcracker Career Centre and allowing them to monitor student engagement with Gradcracker.
• My Gradcracker (Student Dashboard) An organizational tool for students to track job applications, follow companies for job alerts, and monitor progress from first interview to job offer.
• Gradcracker App Mobile application launched in 2011 allowing students to access Gradcracker's full features on the move, including job searches, job alerts, dashboard management, and webinar viewing.
• Company Hubs Individual employer profile pages built and managed by Gradcracker, containing information about company culture, benefits, current opportunities, employee profiles, videos, and other recruitment material.
• Gradcracker Career Centre Resource hub providing career advice from Gradcracker and its employers on job hunting, application preparation, and interview skills for STEM students.
• Gradcracker Webinars Hour-long live webinars hosted with employers featuring senior recruiters and recent graduates, led by Gradcracker directors, providing insights into companies, industries, and application processes.
• Gradcracker Toolkit A 350-page careers guide sponsored by over 100 leading employers, available in print, online, and audio formats, distributed to universities across the UK, including video, podcast presentations, and digital/printed posters.
• STEM Societies Free hubs provided to over 180 university STEM student societies to help them attract new members and promote themselves to employers.
• 5-Year Club Exclusive employer membership group requiring companies to have advertised on Gradcracker for at least 5 years, currently numbering over 200 employers including major engineering and technology names.
• Gradcracker Talks On-campus career advice talks and skills sessions delivered by Gradcracker at universities, providing insights into what employers look for and helping students focus their job searches.

Quantifiable outcome

• Daily visitor numbers range between 20,000 and 35,000, averaging over 30,000 per day during peak recruitment months
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.

• UK UniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGradcracker has close relationships with all universities across the UK and Ireland. Universities receive free access to Gradcracker's platform, dashboards for careers advisors, career talks and skills sessions, and resources including the Gradcracker Toolkit for student distribution.
• STEM Student SocietiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 180 STEM student societies receive free hubs on Gradcracker to help them attract new members and promote themselves to employers. This initiative is valued by employers like CERN who use it to connect with proactive students and graduates.
• Gradcracker 5-Year Club EmployerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 200 employers have advertised on Gradcracker for at least 5 years, many since the platform's launch in 2007. Members include major engineering and technology companies such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Siemens, Arup, and AtkinsRéalis.
• Toolkit Sponsors (100+ Employers)moderateGTM or Marketing PartnerOver 100 Gradcracker employers sponsor the Gradcracker Toolkit, a 350-page careers guide distributed to STEM students. This provides sponsors with visibility and branding alongside careers advice content.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Milkround: Milkround is a long-established UK student and graduate job board advertising graduate jobs, internships, and placements to university students. It operates a similar employer-paid advertising model to Gradcracker and serves overlapping university talent pools across the UK.
• Prospects: Prospects is a UK higher education careers service offering job listings, career advice, and employer advertising for graduates and students. It overlaps with Gradcracker's career advice, university partnerships, and graduate job aggregation functions.
• Targetjobs: Targetjobs is a UK graduate recruitment platform and careers advice site that connects students with employers offering graduate jobs, internships, and placements. It shares Gradcracker's positioning as a UK-focused student-to-employer intermediary, though with a broader, less STEM-specific scope.
• Bright Network: Bright Network is a UK-based graduate recruitment platform connecting students and recent graduates with employers, operating a similar B2B2C model. Both companies focus on early-talent recruitment and partner with universities across the UK, making them the closest direct competitor to Gradcracker in the graduate and placement recruitment space.
• RateMyPlacement: RateMyPlacement is a UK platform dedicated to placement year and internship opportunities, including those in engineering and STEM. Its placement-year focus and student reviews make it a direct peer for Gradcracker's placement offering.

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn operates the dominant global professional network with a substantial jobs and recruitment advertising business, including early-talent and graduate roles. It competes with Gradcracker for employer recruitment spend, though as a broad incumbent rather than a STEM-specialist.
• Handshake: Handshake is a US-headquartered university-student career platform used by thousands of institutions and employers to connect students with jobs and internships. It is a broader incumbent operating a similar B2B2C employer-paid model but at significantly larger global scale than Gradcracker.
• Indeed: Indeed is one of the largest global job search platforms with a significant UK presence, including paid employer advertising and graduate listings. It competes with Gradcracker on inventory breadth, though without Gradcracker's STEM and university-specific focus.
• StepStone: StepStone is a leading European online job board operating across multiple countries and verticals, including graduate and student recruitment. It represents a broader incumbent with the resources to expand STEM and early-talent offerings into the UK market served by Gradcracker.

Emerging players

• UKESF (UK Electronics Skills Foundation): UKESF connects UK university electronics students with employers through scholarships, work placements, and graduate roles. It overlaps with Gradcracker's STEM employer-student matching function in a narrow electronics sub-vertical, and serves as a niche ecosystem participant.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gradcracker
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gradcracker-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gradcracker