AI Recruitment Funding
Leuven Recruitment AI Startup Spott Raises $21 Million in Series A Funding
Anonymous
Key Points
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The Series A follows a $3.2 million (€2.8 million) seed round that Spott announced in March 2025; the company launched its core platform six months later.
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Spott was founded by Lander Degreve, Manu Vanderveeren and Samuel Smeys after the three worked with recruitment businesses at McKinsey, Bain and BCG, where they observed the impact of outdated and disconnected software.
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Spott says customer data shows its platform can increase placements by up to 30%. H.W. Anderson, one of its customers, has used the system to create more than 100,000 candidate profiles and make years of correspondence searchable.
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The company expects to grow its workforce from 44 employees to about 60 by the end of the year, with most new hires focused on engineering.
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Balderton partner Phil Chambers said the founders had identified an “overlooked problem” and that customer adoption showed they had built “the solution this market has been waiting for.”
Spott, a Leuven-based startup that sells AI recruitment software to agencies, has raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Balderton Capital. The company builds an applicant tracking system that turns scattered emails and résumés into searchable candidate databases. WOWTALE reports Spott has already grown revenue more than tenfold since early 2026 and serves hundreds of agencies across 12 countries.
Spott was founded in 2024 by three veterans of top consulting firms who saw recruitment agencies drowning in outdated software. The new funding will help the company open offices in New York and Sydney, hire engineers, and build AI features that proactively spot job openings and track candidate career moves. Pulse2 notes the round includes backing from Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, and Fortino Capital.
From Consulting Problem to Recruitment Platform
Spott's three founders—Lander Degreve, Manu Vanderveeren, and Samuel Smeys—worked at McKinsey, Bain, and BCG helping recruitment agencies solve their biggest pain point: managing candidate data spread across dozens of broken systems. They left consulting to build Spott in 2024 and announced a $3.2 million seed round in March 2025. The core platform launched six months later.
The software consolidates candidate profiles, search tools, messaging, and workflow automation into one place. Recruiters keep full control—they decide which candidates move forward and which get shown to clients. OnRec reports the system can organize years of email chains and résumé documents into searchable intelligence.
Customers Already Seeing 30% More Placements
Spott's traction is striking. Customer data shows the platform can boost placements by as much as 30 percent. OnRec highlights H.W. Anderson, one of Spott's early customers, which has created more than 100,000 candidate profiles and made years of correspondence instantly searchable. The company now operates across 12 countries with revenue coming from both the United States and Asia-Pacific.
Balderton partner Phil Chambers called the founders' insight an "overlooked problem" and said customer adoption proved they had built "the solution this market has been waiting for." VentureBurn notes the company will use the funding to expand its 44-person team to roughly 60 by year-end, with most new hires focused on engineering work.
Next Phase: Agentic AI and Global Offices
Spott plans to develop "proactive agentic AI" features that will spot open vacancies, track when candidates change jobs, and recommend next steps automatically. WOWTALE reports the startup will open offices in New York and Sydney to tap new markets and hire talent closer to customers. The expansion marks Spott's push from a European startup into a truly global recruitment operating system.
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