Talentiqa, a recruitment automation startup out of Prague, has secured €1 million in funding to increase its AI-powered hiring assistant.

The spherical was equally backed by Purple Ventures and Enterprise to Future Fund.

“For twenty years I handled hiring a whole bunch of individuals in retail, hospitality, and gastronomy, and we continuously bumped into the identical subject. Corporations complained there weren’t sufficient candidates, whereas candidates complained that companies didn’t know the best way to talk with them – usually not replying in any respect. These two worlds had been merely lacking one another. Generally the issue was as trivial as an applicant not with the ability to reply the telephone in time.

“We based Talentiqa to hurry up the preliminary interview and enhance its success fee. Because of AI, we will now automate probably the most troublesome half at scale – the primary contact, verifying curiosity, and rapidly connecting the precise folks with the precise corporations,” says Marek Dian, Co-founder and CEO of Talentiqa.

In 2025, European HRTech startups have continued to draw regular investor curiosity, with a number of funding rounds reflecting the sector’s shift towards AI-driven hiring and workforce administration.

Danish startup Kiku secured €4 million to handle high-volume recruitment, whereas London-based Metaview raised round €30 million to increase its AI recruiting platform. In Southern Europe, Orbio in Madrid closed €6.4 million to scale its AI-native HCM system, and Skillvue in Milan raised €5.5 million to help skills-based recruitment.

In opposition to this backdrop, Talentiqa’s spherical represents a relatively smaller elevate however positions it throughout the identical European pattern of automating hiring workflows by way of AI.

Whereas its friends are advancing abilities platforms, HCM methods, or payroll options, Talentiqa appears to distinguish itself by specializing in AI-driven pre-screening and interview automation, including Central European illustration to a panorama in any other case dominated by Western and Southern European gamers.

“What impressed us most about Talentiqa had been the robust Founders with a deep understanding of the issue. The startup leverages AI very successfully to sort out recruitment in industries the place conventional approaches fail. They have already got the belief of main firms, which is a robust sign that their product works and has worldwide potential,” says Jan Staněk, Managing Companion of Purple Ventures.

Based in 2021, Talentiqa guarantees to make first-round interviews each sooner and fairer, with its platform allegedly saving recruiters as much as 100 hours monthly and filling roles ten occasions faster.

The startup’s founding duo consists of Marek Dian, who brings substantial enterprise administration expertise, and Miro Šmelko, a seasoned software program developer.

The startup’s expertise is presently utilized by main employers together with ČEZ, Raiffeisenbank, Bageterie Boulevard, and Manpower. By automating preliminary candidate screening with an AI assistant that operates across the clock, Talentiqa cuts out repetitive guide work and dramatically improves the velocity at which employers can determine promising candidates.

Whereas preliminary interviews historically depend on availability throughout working hours, Talentiqa says they flip the script, permitting candidates to speak with AI throughout evenings or weekends – occasions when job seekers are sometimes extra out there.

The funding is ready to speed up Talentiqa’s rollout throughout Europe and past. The corporate was initially launched underneath the identify Jobsider, in shut collaboration with HR professionals to check options. It has since targeted on its clever pre-screening core, rebranding to Talentiqa.

“It’s frequent that job seekers are nonetheless employed elsewhere. When recruiters name them throughout common enterprise hours, they’re usually unavailable, don’t reply, and threat being dropped from the method. Our system permits candidates to finish the pre-screening by way of a chat with the AI assistant every time it fits them – even at night time or on weekends – which is essential to our wonderful outcomes,” provides Marek Dian.

Talentiqa’s AI system is made up of dozens of interlinked brokers that carry out preliminary screening interviews, parse CVs (and even deal with functions with out them), and confirm key info reminiscent of location, availability, and employment preferences. Candidates who cross are immediately superior to the subsequent spherical, whereas those that don’t nonetheless get entered into the corporate’s expertise pool for future consideration.

The answer is especially impactful for sectors with giant recruitment volumes reminiscent of retail, logistics, meals providers, and buyer help, however it’s additionally reportedly gaining traction in banking, telecommunications, and vitality.

“We’re continuously hiring for dozens of our eating places. Essentially the most demanding half was all the time the preliminary spherical of calls – recruiters usually spent half of their working hours simply attempting to succeed in candidates, as there are such a lot of and few decide up the telephone on the primary attempt.

“Because of Talentiqa and its distinctive resolution, we’ve been in a position to considerably velocity up and streamline this course of. This offers us extra time to personally have interaction with candidates the place it makes probably the most sense,” says Kristýna Krouželová, HR Supervisor at Bageterie Boulevard , which began utilizing Talentiqa final yr.

In keeping with knowledge supplied by the corporate, Talentiqa boasts spectacular outcomes: as much as 80% of recruiter time saved, 90% of candidates finishing pre-screening inside 24 hours, and greater than 400% ROI for corporations utilizing the platform.

Notably, 93% of candidates reported they would favor chat interviews as an ordinary a part of the hiring course of, and 88% felt extra assured and fewer pressured than throughout conventional telephone interviews.

With a robust product-market match and a rising checklist of company shoppers, Talentiqa is positioning itself not simply as a Czech recruitment innovation, however as a worldwide contender within the HRTech area.