Spott Raises $21M Series A for AI (164news.com on ai) Recruitment Platform
Spott, a Leuven-based startup offering an AI-native applicant tracking system and CRM for recruitment agencies, has secured a $21 million Series A round led by Balderton Capital. Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, and Fortino also participated in the funding.
The company launched its platform six months after its seed round and has seen revenue grow over tenfold this year.
Organizations face challenges with traditional applicant tracking and CRM systems, often relying on outdated software and multiple tools for candidate sourcing, outreach, note-taking, and scheduling. Spott addresses these pain points by consolidating record management, search, messaging, outreach, and workflow automation into a single product.
Recruiters can efficiently search through emails, CVs, and pipelines across databases containing up to 2 million records. The platform estimates that judgment accounts for only one-fifth of a recruiter's workload, with the majority dedicated to administration and sourcing. While Spott automates these tasks, it requires recruiter approval to advance candidates or present them to clients.
Spott's customer base includes H.W. Anderson and CGP Group, with over 100,000 candidate profiles created on the platform. The company reports a placement increase of up to 30% for its users. With a growing presence in Asia-Pacific and the United States, Spott is expanding globally, opening offices in Sydney and New York and planning to increase its workforce from 44 to approximately 60 employees by year-end.
New features will highlight open positions, track candidate career changes, and suggest appropriate next steps before recruiters begin their search.
Founded in 2024 by Lander Degreve, Manu Vanderveeren, and Samuel Smeys—former consultants at recruitment firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG—Spott aims to empower agencies with control over their data while leveraging AI to enhance their recruiters' capabilities. "Recruitment succeeds through trust and human judgment," said Degrave. "Spott gives agencies the tools to deepen relationships with candidates and clients."
Phil Chambers, a partner at Balderton Capital, recognized the founders' deep understanding of the problem based on their own experiences. He cited Spott's rapid customer adoption as a testament to its market-ready solution.