Plum Inc., a Waterloo-based maker of behaviour-based recruitment software, has won a US$250,000 (C$327,000) award and incubation space in Buffalo as one of the winners of the second annual 43North competition.

As well as the development funding, the prize will afford four-year-old Plum a base in the U.S. from which is can grow its American clientele.

The 43North competition is part of the New York State program to develop entrepreneurship in the state, especially in Western New York. It awards a total of $5 million to 11 startups from anywhere and gives them incubation space, mentorship and tax breaks so they can grow their business in Buffalo.

Plum helps companies or other employers find the right employees based on their character rather than skill set or history. That is important because research published recently in Forbes magazine has shown that half of new employees only last in their jobs for 18 months. In almost nine cases out of 10, the reason for failure is an attitudinal problem.

Read our previous coverage of Plum

The company has been taking on clients rapidly and as of May had more than 65 active customers and the platform had been used on every continent other than Asia. More than 40,000 job seekers had used the system.

“Being backed by the Buffalo government provides an efficient baseline for us to reach out and make a quick and addressable impact,” said the company in a statement on the 43North website. “We are all very excited to be able to make an impact very quickly to measure and monitor the changes in hiring time, turnover and potentially the change to unemployment rates in Buffalo.”

The statement added that having a base in Buffalo will grant the opportunity to launch in a defined U.S. location. Buffalo boasts growing financial, healthcare, technology and education sectors, all of which are targets for Plum.

Plum previously graduated from the Hyperdrive accelerator at Communitech and has received funding from BDC Capital as well as other investors.  

Eleven companies were awarded at least US$250,000 each in the 43North competition, now in its second year, and will now occupy space in the incubation centre. The grand winner was Buffalo-based ACV Auctions, which is a live wholesale marketplace for dealer-only automobile auctions. It will receive $1 million.

Plum’s software-as-a-service technology helps organizations – usually companies with 100 to 5,000 employees – find the individuals that fit that particular group’s culture. In a previous interview, CEO Caitlin MacGregor said it does so by applying the same quality of psychological testing that Fortune 500 companies use to choose CEOs.

“Plum gets to the heart of who someone really is,” the company told 43North. “Our company’s greatest strength is its employees. They were all hired using Plum and are well matched to their positions.”