By futureTEKnow | Editorial Team
The latest funding round in the European tech scene spotlights Kiku, a Copenhagen-based startup dedicated to modernizing recruitment for frontline roles. With a fresh €4 million seed round closed just four months after its angel round, Kiku is positioning itself as a category-defining solution for one of the most challenging and overlooked segments in HR: high-volume frontline hiring.
Frontline jobs, including roles in retail, hospitality, and logistics, make up over 80% of the global workforce—about 2.7 billion people worldwide. Despite this scale, recruitment technologies have generally favored corporate, desk-based environments, leaving the needs of these essential workers under-addressed. Frontline positions are notorious for their 60–80% annual turnover rates and average time-to-hire exceeding 40 days. Recruiters spend excessive hours on repetitive tasks and, remarkably, up to 80% of candidates report being ghosted during the hiring process.
Kiku targets these pain points head-on, combining automation with a mobile-first, conversational approach. Instead of rigid application forms or clunky pre-recorded videos, candidates interact with the AI agent “Sara” through a natural two-way conversation, available 24/7 in any language. This interface instantly assesses candidates on merit—completely eliminating bias based on gender, age, or ethnicity—and provides immediate feedback.
Key features include:
Automated sourcing, screening, interviewing, and reference checks—shrinking hiring timelines to just days.
Consistent candidate experience, with a 93% satisfaction rate reported across Nordic, UK, and US pilot customers.
Empathetic engagement, so every applicant is seen, heard, and receives a timely response.
Eric André, Kiku’s co-founder and CEO, sees a future where scale and quality thrive together: “Kiku turns scale into an advantage. It makes fast, high-quality hiring possible, without increasing recruiter headcount or sacrificing candidate experience”. This philosophy is gaining traction, with customers praising faster decisions, stronger pipelines, and reduced costs, especially crucial as labor competition intensifies globally.
Kiku’s team draws from deep operational experience—including André’s own journey scaling Voi from zero to 200 employees. Instead of retrofitting corporate tools for deskless workers, Kiku is building a platform tailored for frontline realities, meeting the workforce wherever they are—with a smartphone and a conversation.
As Sophia Bendz of Cherry Ventures puts it, “Kiku will define the category for AI in frontline recruitment”. The new funding will fuel enhanced product development, team growth, and European market expansion.
By tackling biases, improving efficiency, and offering an accessible, multilingual, always-on application process, Kiku is set to reshape how billions of people connect to job opportunities. For companies, it’s a chance to unlock talent at scale—with empathy, precision, and speed.
Recruitment is evolving, and Kiku’s approach signals what’s next: a fairer, faster, and more human hiring journey for the world’s essential workforce.
futureTEKnow is a leading source for Technology, Startups, and Business News, spotlighting the most innovative companies and breakthrough trends in emerging tech sectors like Artificial Intelligence (AI), immersive technologies (XR), robotics, and the space industry. Since 2018, futureTEKnow has evolved from a social media platform into a comprehensive global database and news hub, delivering insightful content that connects entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals with the latest advancements shaping the future of business and technology.
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