Former Czech unicorn team founds AI-powered recruitment startup Finlay

• DEPO Ventures has announced investment in Finlay, alongside J&T Ventures 

• Finlay focuses on transforming the recruitment process with AI technology.

• The startup is co-founded by experts from Mews, IBM, Rossum, and Cyrkl.

• The investment totals €300,000 as part of a pre-seed round.

"Finlay has impeccable timing for driving change in HR. On top of that, the founders bring deep expertise in recruitment and AI development. Combined with their proven executive track record, this positions the project for global success," says Jan Krahulík, partner at DEPO Ventures.

Finlay is on a mission to overhaul recruitment with an AI-powered hiring agent designed to efficiently connect companies with the best talent. This technology not only sources candidates from LinkedIn but also taps into alternative platforms like Reddit, Stack Overflow, and GitHub to ensure a comprehensive talent search.

"Our goal is for you to see 40% more candidates that you haven't seen before and ensure the first five candidates you meet are highly promising," said Scott Moran, CEO of Finlay. "We want hiring to be as simple as an Uber ride – just say 'let’s Finlay-it,' and let our AI agents do the rest."

Unique Talent Leading the Charge 

Finlay's founding team includes industry veterans such as Scott Moran, former COO of Mews – a Czech unicorn valued at $1.2 billion – and two ex-Mews recruiters, Matt Slavik and Ondřej Illek. They are joined by Juraj Lenoch, a former recruiter for IBM and Rossum, and Peter Kisel, ex CTO of Cyrkl. This powerful combination of expertise from scaling up a unicorn and technical innovation uniquely positions Finlay to make a significant impact in the recruitment industry.

"There has never been a better opportunity to disrupt the recruitment industry. Thanks to its strong team, Finlay can move quickly, challenge established leaders in the field, and capture a share of a market that is both competitive and enormous – in Europe as well as the United States," says Jakub Zimola of J&T Ventures.

Investment with Massive Growth Potential 

DEPO Ventures and J&T Ventures have jointly invested €300,000 into Finlay's pre-seed round. With early traction in Czech, Polish, and Dutch markets, the funding will enable Finlay to further develop its AI-powered product and expand operations, including a future presence in the USA. With this new funding, Finlay aims to evolve into a subscription-based model on top of their AI-powered recruitment services.

"The recruitment industry is worth over $500 billion," Moran adds. "This market has immense potential, and by augmenting traditional models with AI, we hope to bring transformative changes to both businesses and talent acquisition."