Recruitment & HR Archives - 老九品茶Cloud /news/category/sectors/recruitment-hr-sector/ Tech insight with bite Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:26:49 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bc-logo.png Recruitment & HR Archives - 老九品茶Cloud /news/category/sectors/recruitment-hr-sector/ 32 32 After kitchen porter rejection, JP Morgan hired me – now I鈥檓 a founder /news/after-kitchen-porter-rejection-jp-morgan-hired-me-now-im-a-founder/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:26:49 +0000 /?p=195165 If hard work truly pays off, then Raji Kudus Adewale is a prime example. Born in Nigeria, Raji came to Scotland in December 2022 with one suitcase and his brother by his side. He had a degree, was studying for an MSc at Glasgow Caledonian University and had data skills after building tech products on […]

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If hard work truly pays off, then Raji Kudus Adewale is a prime example.

Born in Nigeria, Raji came to Scotland in December 2022 with one suitcase and his brother by his side. He had a degree, was studying for an MSc at Glasgow Caledonian University and had data skills after building tech products on contract back home.

But what he did not have was any understanding of how the UK job market actually worked – or anyone to help him figure it out.

鈥淚 thought the transition would be straightforward. It was not,鈥 he tells 老九品茶Cloud.

Unsuccessful with all the junior data roles he applied for in 2023, it was another, very different job rejection that really hit home.

鈥淭he moment that broke me 鈥 and then rebuilt me 鈥 was getting rejected for a kitchen porter position at the Radisson Red hotel in Glasgow,鈥 he explains.

鈥淚 had studied data science. I had built machine learning models. I had an MSc underway. And I could not get a job washing dishes.鈥

He continues: 鈥淚 was sitting in the GCU student bar playing pool when the rejection email came in. I burst out laughing. Not because it was funny 鈥 because the alternative was crying, and I had decided early on that I was not going to let circumstances make that choice for me.

鈥淭wenty-four hours later they emailed again. Their first choice had declined. They offered me the role. I took it 鈥 because sometimes you need to take a step back to leap forward. And because I needed to eat.鈥

Enter DeDataDude

What came next was eight months of washing plates by day, attending MSc lectures in the evenings, and teaching himself everything he could at night on four or five hours of sleep. And working as a steward at Rangers鈥 world-famous Ibrox Stadium.

鈥淓very time I worked a steward shift at Ibrox Stadium, I would walk home past JP Morgan’s building on Argyle Street and look up at their logo. I made it a ritual. I told myself: that is where you are going,鈥 says Raji.

鈥淒uring that grinding period I started building in public under the name DeDataDude 鈥 sharing what I was learning, documenting the journey honestly, not pretending it was easy. That community grew to over 20,000 people across platforms.聽

鈥淭hrough that I landed freelance contracts on Upwork, and the last contract was at $70 an hour. I connected with people who opened doors, and I started to understand how career positioning actually worked 鈥 which is completely different from just having skills.鈥

He also got involved with a digital inclusion initiative in Glasgow, delivering data and AI literacy workshops to Scottish communities. He says this gave him credibility and a real network.

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It鈥檚 who you know

In May 2024 鈥 14 months after that kitchen porter rejection 鈥 he received an offer from JP Morgan Chase as a senior product associate.聽

鈥淔ull-time, not intern, not entry-level. The same building I had walked past at midnight after steward shifts,鈥 he clarifies.

鈥淪omeone had told me during that period that immigrants always have to start at the bottom, that I would never get a senior role without going through the entry-level pipeline first. I wrote that down and put it on my wall. When the JP Morgan offer came in, I thought about that note a lot.

鈥淭he thing I realised while going through all of this 鈥 and then while helping over a thousand other people through similar journeys 鈥 is that what made the difference was not my technical skills. It was the career intelligence layer.聽

鈥淯nderstanding what the market actually needed at a specific moment, how to position my experience for a specific employer, how to build relationships based on value rather than desperation. That knowledge is freely available if you know the right people. Most people do not know the right people.鈥

, launched this month, is his answer to that: 鈥淚 built the platform I wished had existed when I was washing plates.鈥

DeDataHub

The AI-powered career intelligence platform is for data and AI professionals 鈥 combining structured learning tracks with an AI career advisor that actively works on users’ job market positioning alongside their learning.

鈥淭hink of it less like a chatbot and more like having a senior colleague in your corner who never goes offline,鈥 explains Raji.

鈥淲hen a subscriber joins DeDataHub, they are matched to an AI career advisor persona specific to their track 鈥 Alexandra for Data Analytics, Marcus for Data Science, Priya for Data Engineering, David for AI/LLM Engineering.聽

鈥淓ach advisor knows where the user is in their curriculum, scans the job market in real time, and proactively surfaces what the user should be focusing on 鈥 not based on what was in demand when a course was recorded, but based on what is actually being hired for right now.鈥

So how does it compare with, say, a bootcamp?

Raji answers: 鈥淎 bootcamp gives you technical content and a certificate. It does not give you what comes after 鈥 how to position that certificate, which employers are actually hiring for it right now, how to present your projects and your past experience for a specific role, what to say when you are asked why you are changing careers.

鈥淒eDataHub costs 拢20-32 a month. A UK bootcamp costs between 拢7,000 and 拢18,000. And at the end of it, most people are still on their own when it comes to the career and job market navigation side.

鈥淚 am not against bootcamps. Some are excellent. But the product we built addresses the gap that comes after 鈥 and that gap is why 87% of people who start learning data science never land a data job.鈥

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Launch

On its first day, DeDataHub saw three confirmed subscribers and it now has five paying subscribers, collected organically, with 拢324.50 in the bank.

鈥淔ive is not a hundred. The target was a hundred by the end of week one. We are not there,鈥 says Raji truthfully.

鈥淏ut the first subscriber who committed 鈥 they took an annual plan. They paid upfront for a full year before most people had even heard of us. That meant more to me than any number would have.聽

鈥淥ne person believed enough to commit for 12 months. Another person believed enough to commit for three months too. That is not a vanity metric. That is trust.

鈥淚 am building this in public, which means sharing the honest version 鈥 not just when the numbers look good. Five subscribers and 拢324.50 after one week with no marketing budget is a starting point. I know what I need to do from here.鈥

The intention is to prove the model works without investor money. If DeDataHub reaches 拢2,000 monthly recurring revenue organically, that is the trigger to begin pre-seed conversations, says Raji.聽

鈥淲e are also tracking non-dilutive fundings. These matter to me because they do not cost equity and they come with ecosystem credibility that is valuable at this stage,鈥 he adds.

鈥淭he honest answer is: I would rather raise from a position of proof than from a position of need.鈥

He concludes: 鈥淚 do not have a Silicon Valley investor on speed dial. I have a WhatsApp group of people who believed in this before it existed. That is the version of support I have operated with so far.鈥

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YFM leads 拢3m funding into talent tech innovator inploi /news/yfm-leads-3m-funding-into-talent-tech-innovator-inploi/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:25:24 +0000 /?p=194703 YFM Equity Partners has led a 拢3 million investment round into talent tech innovator inploi. The London startup, founded by Matthew de la Hey and Alex Hanson-Smith in 2016 to serve the recruitment needs of the hospitality and leisure sector through a marketplace, was forced to pivot hard to enterprise SaaS when COVID wiped out […]

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YFM Equity Partners has led a 拢3 million investment round into talent tech innovator inploi.

The London startup, founded by Matthew de la Hey and Alex Hanson-Smith in 2016 to serve the recruitment needs of the hospitality and leisure sector through a marketplace, was forced to pivot hard to enterprise SaaS when COVID wiped out its customer base and pipeline.聽

With customers including Compass Group, wagamama, Gail鈥檚 and NHS trusts, inploi has facilitated millions of applications across over 70,000 vacancies since that pivot.

It has previously raised multiple rounds of funding from friends, family and angels.聽

inploi鈥檚 platform works alongside existing applicant tracking systems to streamline candidate journeys, reduce drop-off and enable faster, more effective hiring decisions.聽

The fresh investment will support the company鈥檚 next phase of commercial and product growth, including building out sales and marketing capabilities, expanding the team, and accelerating development of Talent Agents – a new suite of AI-driven hiring assistants designed to automate sourcing, screening, scheduling and candidate communications.

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鈥淓mployers are under huge pressure to hire at scale while delivering a better experience for candidates,鈥 said South African De la Hey, who serves as CEO.聽

鈥渋nploi has proven there鈥檚 a better way to do this, and we鈥檙e seeing strong demand from organisations that want smarter, more efficient recruitment. YFM鈥檚 backing allows us to accelerate our growth, invest further in our product and scale the business internationally.鈥

By reducing manual task load and enabling more personalised engagement at scale, the technology aims to free talent teams to focus on higher-value interactions and better hiring outcomes.

Roshan Puri, partner at YFM Equity Partners, added: 鈥渋nploi is addressing a real and growing challenge for enterprise employers.

“The team has built a compelling product with clear customer ROI and strong momentum in the UK and US. We’re delighted to support inploi on its scale-up journey.鈥

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Forbes 30 Under 30 founder raises 拢6m for TraqCheck /news/forbes-30-under-30-founder-raises-6m-for-traqcheck/ Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:12:01 +0000 /?p=194328 A Forbes 30 Under 30 founder who moved the HQ of his startup TraqCheck to London has raised 拢6 million in Series A funding. Jaibir Nihal Singh (pictured, left) featured on the publication鈥檚 Asia AI list in 2025. He is co-CEO with Armaan Mehta (right), who also co-founded the firm and is – according to […]

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A Forbes 30 Under 30 founder who moved the HQ of his startup TraqCheck to London has raised 拢6 million in Series A funding.

Jaibir Nihal Singh (pictured, left) featured on the publication鈥檚 Asia AI list in 2025. He is co-CEO with Armaan Mehta (right), who also co-founded the firm and is – according to LinkedIn – now based in Los Angeles. They maintain an office in New Delhi.

TraqCheck is aiming to replace traditional HR software with AI agents, transforming talent sourcing, screening and background verification.

The round was led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from IIFL. It will be used to increase UK headcount to 25 and scale its agents among SMEs and enterprises across Europe.聽聽

TraqCheck already has nearly 300 enterprise customers globally using its background screening agent Trace, including Randstad Enterprise, Wipro and The Digital College.聽聽

The business is also expanding upstream into talent acquisition with new real-time conversational talent sourcing agent, Nina. Nina initiates outreach conversations, qualifies applicants, and introduces vetted talent directly to hiring managers.聽

By taking the administrative burden out of hiring, Nina empowers recruiters and hiring managers to supercharge their productivity and focus their time on the parts of the process that require human interaction and judgement.聽

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Nihal Singh is also a partner in the Nihal Singh Family Office – a multi-generational family office investing in public and private equity, as well as real estate.

鈥淩ecruiting has been stuck in search interfaces and fragmented tools for two decades. Agents change the interface entirely,鈥 he said.聽

鈥淚nstead of navigating software, you simply tell an AI what role you want to hire for and the system executes the entire workflow. We are building systems that collaborate and make decisions, not just tools that display information.

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鈥淥ur Series A comes at the perfect time, as HR departments are moving beyond isolated pilots to truly embedded autonomous agents. We believe that HR will be one of the earliest operational categories to see full automation.聽

鈥淔uture hiring teams will rely less on dashboards and more on digital colleagues.鈥澛

TraqCheck was previously backed by angel investors including Peyush Bansal, billionaire founder of Lenskart, and Alok Overoi, chairman of Everstone Capital.

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Sona鈥檚 拢34m funding 鈥榯o accelerate tech by a decade鈥 /news/sonas-34m-funding-to-accelerate-tech-by-a-decade/ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 23:06:29 +0000 /?p=193575 Sona has raised 拢34 million in Series B funding which it says will accelerate its tech platform by a decade. The round, led by N47, will accelerate the firm鈥檚 expansion in the United States and enable frontline businesses to build, run and adapt the software that powers their operations. The round saw participation from existing […]

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Sona has raised 拢34 million in Series B funding which it says will accelerate its tech platform by a decade.

The round, led by N47, will accelerate the firm鈥檚 expansion in the United States and enable frontline businesses to build, run and adapt the software that powers their operations.

The round saw participation from existing investors Felicis, Northzone, Gradient, and Italian Founders Fund, and brings its total funding to over $100m.

Sona says the funding will 鈥榖ring forward a decade of planned platform capabilities into customers鈥 hands within a matter of months鈥.

Real economy industries, from hospitality and retail to healthcare and logistics, represent hundreds of millions of workers and a multi鈥慴illion鈥慸ollar software market, yet these businesses typically run on a vast number of disconnected legacy tools.聽

Sona’s AI-powered forecasting and scheduling enables businesses like Popeyes and Tao Group to better manage how their business is staffed, ensuring they have not just the right number of people but the people best suited to the shift working at the busiest times.聽

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Sona’s labour AI platform takes real-time data about bookings, revenue, weather and every shift ever worked 鈥 along with any other factor which may impact a business, from box office takings to road closures 鈥 and builds bottom-up models which evolve in real time to predict not just what will happen but, based on historical productivity, what optimal operations look like and where there are opportunities for improvement.聽

This completely removes the need for legacy time-and-motion studies, which are notoriously expensive and inaccurate.

鈥淓very other enterprise software category has been transformed by AI, but the tools managing the world鈥檚 largest workforce are still fundamentally the same systems that were built 20 years ago,鈥 said Steffen Wulff Petersen, co-founder and CEO of Sona.聽

鈥淲e had a 10-year plan. AI made it a one-year plan. The old SaaS model delivered one-size-fits-all applications that companies had to adapt to.聽

鈥淭he next generation delivers the infrastructure and agentic layer organisations build on, giving them the power to create the exact software their business needs. That鈥檚 what Sona is becoming for the frontline economy.鈥

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NatWest sells Mentor to Empowering People Group /news/natwest-sells-mentor-to-empowering-people-group/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:18:38 +0000 /?p=192796 NatWest Group has sold its employment law, HR, health and safety and environmental management consultancy business Mentor to Empowering People Group, backed by Limerston Capital. Following the sale, NatWest will continue to offer access to Mentor鈥檚 services on a referral basis. Empowering People Group has offices across the UK, providing comprehensive HR and health & […]

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NatWest Group has sold its employment law, HR, health and safety and environmental management consultancy business Mentor to Empowering People Group, backed by Limerston Capital.

Following the sale, NatWest will continue to offer access to Mentor鈥檚 services on a referral basis.

Empowering People Group has offices across the UK, providing comprehensive HR and health & safety support alongside employment law expertise.

鈥淭his sale marks an important step in our strategy to simplify and focus on what matters most to our customers and colleagues,鈥 said Robert Begbie, commercial and institutional CEO NatWest.

鈥淎nd an exciting next phase for Mentor; becoming part of a specialist business and industry expert with complementary services.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e confident that Mentor will continue to thrive under Empowering People Group鈥檚 ownership, and we look forward to maintaining a strong relationship with Mentor and the Empowering People Group in the future.鈥

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Rena Christou, group CEO at Empowering People, said: 鈥淔or more than 20 years, the Empowering People Group has built a strong reputation as a trusted HR partner to large and complex organisations, helping them manage risk, strengthen performance and support their people with confidence.

鈥淢entor is a natural and complementary fit – with aligned values, proven track records and a shared commitment to high standards. We are excited about the opportunity to build something even stronger and deliver even greater impact to the market.聽

鈥淭ogether we are creating a broader, more comprehensive proposition and bringing together enterprise-scale HR capability with deep H&S and environmental strength across the SME market.鈥

The acquisition is expected to complete in Q3 or early Q4 2026.

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Growth Lending provides 拢8m facility to PE-backed GoodShape /news/growth-lending-provides-8m-facility-to-pe-backed-goodshape/ Thu, 05 Mar 2026 23:38:20 +0000 /?p=191418 Growth Lending has provided an 拢8m funding facility to GoodShape, a London-based absence management and return-to work platform backed by Marcol Private Equity.聽 The funding refinances existing debt and provides additional capital to support the company鈥檚 continued expansion as it scales its recurring revenue base, onboards new customers, and enables further targeted investment in the […]

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Growth Lending has provided an 拢8m funding facility to GoodShape, a London-based absence management and return-to work platform backed by Marcol Private Equity.聽

The funding refinances existing debt and provides additional capital to support the company鈥檚 continued expansion as it scales its recurring revenue base, onboards new customers, and enables further targeted investment in the platform鈥檚 technological and AI capabilities.聽

GoodShape is a UK market-leading SaaS platform used by more than 800,000 employees across 250 organisations. The business works with employers across retail, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector, helping them unlock greater value from their workforce and optimise the impact of existing employee health services.聽

The end-to-end platform reduces absence by more than 20% in the first year, improving workforce productivity through real-time data, predictive analytics and digital wellbeing tools.聽

With workforce costs rising and employers under increasing pressure to manage absence effectively, demand for better visibility and smarter intervention continues to grow.聽

鈥淎bsence has become a board-level issue for many organisations,鈥 said Ed Radkiewicz (pictured), chief executive at GoodShape. 鈥淚t affects productivity, creates disruption and additional costs all at once, so employers need clear insight and practical tools, not just reports at the end of the month.聽

鈥淕rowth Lending took the time to understand our model and where we鈥檙e heading. This funding gives us the flexibility to keep building at pace, invest further in our platform and support more employers who are looking for a smarter way to manage absence.鈥澛

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Growth Lending said the deal reflects its continued focus on backing high-quality recurring revenue businesses operating in resilient markets.聽

Sean McCormick, director of debt finance at Growth Lending, added: 鈥淲hat stood out to us was the clarity of GoodShape鈥檚 proposition. The team has built a platform that solves a genuine and growing problem for employers, and they鈥檝e developed it into a strong base of recurring revenue.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to be supporting the next stage of their journey. This facility strengthens the business鈥檚 position and gives them the headroom to continue scaling in a market where demand is only increasing.鈥

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Veremark raises 拢19m after growing 300% in 2025 /news/veremark-raises-19m-after-growing-300-in-2025/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:39:36 +0000 /?p=188841 Veremark has raised 拢19 million in Series B funding to expand globally. The London firm provides background check and applicant screening technology to employers. The round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from existing investors Samaipata, ACF Investors and Stage 2 Capital – inclusive of a multi-million debt facility from Salica Partners.聽 The […]

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Veremark has raised 拢19 million in Series B funding to expand globally.

The London firm provides background check and applicant screening technology to employers.

The round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from existing investors Samaipata, ACF Investors and Stage 2 Capital – inclusive of a multi-million debt facility from Salica Partners.聽

The funding will also be used to drive further investment in new products and AI.

Veremark grew its revenue run rate by 300% in 2025 and recently acquired Agenda Screening Services, a specialist background screening firm, offering every type of check available, including criminal checks, instant employment checks, global sanctions, credit and bankruptcy checks in over 180 countries.

Employers who use Veremark can instantly implement global background screening at scale during the hiring process or on an ongoing basis anywhere in the world. It says with an increasingly dynamic global workforce, shorter tenures, and the growing use of AI to present false data or profiles and capabilities, hiring managers are finding it harder than ever to verify candidate information and confirm identity.聽

Veremark estimates that the forward looking market for companies to adopt stronger workplace trust initiatives is $120bn per year, as organisations face growing pressure to hire safely, protect culture and maintain compliance.聽

Alongside pre-hire screening, Veremark has recently launched tools that support workplace integrity throughout employment, including a fully anonymous Whistleblowing and Speak Up platform and reporting functionality.聽

The company is also a pioneer in the digital credentials space for the workplace, having developed its own blockchain-based candidate career passport, Verepass, which empowers candidates to own and manage their verified credentials. This reduces the need for repetitive checks, saving companies time and money.

The company now employs more than 200 people, has seven offices worldwide, including the UAE, New Zealand and the Philippines and works with more than 6,000 clients globally.聽

Veremark鈥檚 clients include worldwide major industry players such as OVO Energy and Schneider Electric.

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鈥淭he world of work is facing a new set of challenges. The modern company is looking to ensure an 鈥榓lways on鈥 mindset to managing employee conduct risk,鈥 said Daniel Callaghan, CEO and co-founder.聽

鈥淰eremark provides companies with enhanced confidence in who they are bringing into the business and enables multiple checkpoints to ensure their behaviours remain ethical and appropriate.聽

鈥淲e help companies reduce hiring risk, improve auditability and help protect workplace integrity beyond the point of hire. Our goal is to make trust something employers can evidence and manage in practice, combining secure global screening with tools that help protect people, surface concerns earlier and strengthen workplace standards.聽

鈥淭his funding enables us to scale that globally, while continuing to invest in world class client experience as we grow.鈥

Joe Krancki, investment director at Gresham House Ventures, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e known the Veremark founders for many years and have seen them operate up close across different phases of growth and market conditions.聽

鈥淲hat consistently stands out is the quality of the team 鈥 thoughtful, values-driven, and genuinely world-class. Veremark has built a category-defining platform at the intersection of global hiring, regulation and trust, at a time when AI is increasing the complexity and risk of verifying people at scale.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to partner with the team as they scale internationally and continue to set the standard for how workplace trust is managed in a modern, global organisation.鈥

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Deltabase raises 拢1m to build 鈥楬Q of people & culture鈥 /news/deltabase-raises-1m-to-build-hq-of-people-culture/ Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:29:14 +0000 /?p=186552 A Liverpool startup has raised funds from River Capital and EHE Ventures to bring human insight to the heart of boardroom decision-making. The EIS round of up to 拢1 million into Deltabase will be used to scale its AI-powered platform that helps businesses understand their rivals through people, not just performance. As companies compete on […]

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A Liverpool startup has raised funds from River Capital and EHE Ventures to bring human insight to the heart of boardroom decision-making.

The EIS round of up to 拢1 million into Deltabase will be used to scale its AI-powered platform that helps businesses understand their rivals through people, not just performance.

As companies compete on culture as much as capital, Deltabase aims to redefine competitor intelligence for a new era.聽

Its technology analyses culture, talent and workforce dynamics to give consulting, HR and transformation teams a more comprehensive view of what really drives success.

Already used by firms including PwC, KPMG and Mercer, Deltabase helps teams quantify 鈥榩eople factors鈥 that traditional analysis overlooks, transforming culture and workforce data into measurable advantage.

鈥淔or years, companies have had access to every possible metric about their competitors 鈥 except the ones that matter most. Financials and customer metrics are easy to map, but understanding how organisations lead, retain, and inspire people has always been the missing piece,鈥 said Phil Spratt, CEO.聽

鈥淒eltabase fills that gap. We give decision-makers actionable, data-backed evidence of how teams operate, so they can move faster and with more confidence. When you bring clarity to culture, you change how strategy gets delivered.鈥

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Neil Vose, CEO of EHE Venture Studio, added: 鈥淒eltabase is putting people intelligence where it belongs: at the centre of strategic decision-making. It鈥檚 already embedded in top consulting workflows, and our studio will help the team scale that capability globally from right here in the North of England.鈥

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Revolut founder among backers as Ben raises 拢21m Series B /news/revolut-founder-among-backers-as-ben-raises-21m-series-b/ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 08:58:56 +0000 /?p=186259 London-based employee benefits platform Ben has raised 拢20.8 million in a Series B funding round as it looks to challenge legacy systems used by multinational employers to manage increasingly complex benefits programmes. The round was led by Mercia Ventures, with strong participation from existing investors Atomico, Cherry Ventures, DN Capital and Seedcamp.聽 A new backer […]

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London-based employee benefits platform Ben has raised 拢20.8 million in a Series B funding round as it looks to challenge legacy systems used by multinational employers to manage increasingly complex benefits programmes.

The round was led by Mercia Ventures, with strong participation from existing investors Atomico, Cherry Ventures, DN Capital and Seedcamp.聽

A new backer in this round was Revolut founder Nik Storonsky鈥檚 QuantumLight Capital.

The London-based firm uses AI-driven technology to help large organisations manage employee benefits across multiple countries, consolidating what is often a fragmented and admin-heavy process into a single platform.聽

The company said the funding will be used to accelerate its product roadmap and strengthen its go-to-market capabilities as demand grows from global enterprises seeking modern alternatives to outdated infrastructure.

The raise follows a period of rapid growth for the business, with the firm now working with enterprise customers across Europe and North America and supporting employees in more than 140 countries.聽

Since its previous funding round in August 2022, revenue has grown more than tenfold, driven by organisations moving away from legacy benefits platforms.

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Its AI-native system automates administrative tasks for HR teams, provides real-time visibility over costs and utilisation and delivers personalised guidance to employees, with the goal of reducing waste, improving access to benefits and increasing engagement.

鈥淓mployee benefits have never been more important – and never harder for global employers to manage,鈥 said Sebastian Fallert, co-founder and CEO of Ben.聽

鈥淔or years, enterprises have been held back by fragmented systems and manual processes. AI changes that. It gives employers a way to tackle complexity at its source – in the rules, workflows and data that sit between HR, providers and payroll.聽

鈥淭his investment lets us bring that approach to more markets so benefits teams can spend less time on administration and more time supporting their people.鈥

Ben was founded in 2019 by Fallert and David Duckworth. Fallert previously built and sold travel app JustBook Mobile to Secret Escapes, while Duckworth spent several years in financial services at HSBC and Monitor Deloitte.聽

The pair set out to modernise benefits management after experiencing first-hand how outdated and inefficient existing systems had become.

The company鈥檚 customer base includes Mondelez, Trainline, Octopus Energy, Deliveroo and Zalando.聽

As part of its next phase of growth, the business is planning to expand its commercial presence, continue investing in its technology platform and deepen relationships with brokers and other channel partners.

Jonathan Kruger of Mercia Ventures added: 鈥淓mployee benefits are a huge expense for businesses but the current infrastructure is broken.聽

鈥淏en鈥檚 platform brings together employers, employees, brokers and providers to create an intelligent network that delivers value for everyone.聽

鈥淭he company is growing fast and winning against the big incumbents, and this investment will help to establish Ben as the ultimate platform for modern employee benefit management.鈥

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Fulham FC extends Bob deal /news/fulham-fc-extends-bob-deal/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:45:25 +0000 /?p=186108 Fulham FC has extended its partnership with HiBob, developer of human capital management (HCM) platform Bob. The West London club said HiBob will also become its official sleeve sponsor after a successful first year of using Bob across Fulham FC, Fulham Pier and Fulham FC Foundation. The intelligent platform spans human resources, payroll and finance. […]

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Fulham FC has extended its partnership with HiBob, developer of human capital management (HCM) platform Bob.

The West London club said HiBob will also become its official sleeve sponsor after a successful first year of using Bob across Fulham FC, Fulham Pier and Fulham FC Foundation.

The intelligent platform spans human resources, payroll and finance. Fulham said it delivers structure, clarity and connection across all internal departments – including the Academy, Foundation and executives – and all types of staff contracts.

The HiBob logo made its debut on the club鈥檚 third kit at the end of November as Fulham beat Spurs 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It will also adorn the women鈥檚 first team kit.

鈥淔amily and community are at the heart of Fulham鈥檚 DNA, and HiBob鈥檚 people-first approach aligns perfectly with our values,鈥 said Fulham commercial director Jon Don-Carolis.

鈥淓xtending our partnership and welcoming HiBob as a principal partner is a natural next step in our shared journey, enabling us to continue building high-performing teams at every layer of the club.鈥

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Sophie Chesters, chief marketing officer at New York-headquartered HiBob, said: “We鈥檙e proud to be celebrating one year as Fulham FC鈥檚 HCM partner, a relationship built on shared values and a genuine belief in putting people first.聽

鈥淒uring this time, the partnership has grown stronger, rooted in the idea that connected teams and strong communities drive success both on and off the pitch.聽

鈥淎t HiBob, we call this ‘Bring me, win as we’ – creating spaces where people can be themselves and thrive together. We鈥檙e genuinely proud to stand alongside a club that leads with heart and represents values we deeply care about here at HiBob.鈥

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