BACKGROUND checks on job candidates have propelled a firm started by three Oxford students into the big league.

Husayn Kassai, 25, 23-year-old Eamon Jubbawy and 27-year-old Ruhul Amin have been awarded a £2.6 million cash injection from the same investors who backed Spotify and Dropbox.

Their firm has also received money from CrunchFund, which funded Airbnb and Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman.

But two-and-a-half years ago, when starting Onfido, the students were funded by Said Business School and Isis Innovation.

Co-founder Mr Jubbawy said: “This time last year we had one employee, now we have 31.

“The past 12 months have been exceptionally fast moving.”

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Onfido has 400 clients in 28 European countries, including recruitment giant Hays, but will use the cash to expand internationally.

It uses sophisticated technology to verify a person is who they say they are and to run automated education and criminal and anti money laundering checks.

The firm, which has since moved to London, plans to recruit another 20 staff by the end of the year.

Economics and management graduate Mr Jubbawy added: “Research shows 96 per cent of US employers use background checks when recruiting but it’s still just 56 per cent here in the UK, so there is scope to expand here too.”

Mr Jubbawy said more than four million fake identities have been used to commit fraud in the UK and employers are more wary of falling foul of immigration legislation.

He added: “There are heavy fines for hiring illegal workers and that kind of legislation has worked in our favour.”