Yttrium invests in CleverConnect

Two men working on computer together

Goal: become Europe’s market leader for recruitment solutions 

150+ recruitments planned in 2022, in France and Europe
25 million applicants accompanied in their job search in Europe, in 2023

Paris, October 18th 2021 – CleverConnect, specialist in recruitment solutions, announced the closing of a new €30 million Series B funding round led by Digital+ Partners (Germany). The long-standing current investors, Citizen Capital and Sofiouest also participated in this round. This new financing will enable the company not only to accelerate its European expansion, but also to strengthen the team and accelerate  investments in AI to revolutionize Talent Acquisition solutions. CleverConnect’s ambition is to become the European leader in the Talent Acquisition market, and to support more and more candidates in their job search, all across the continent.

€30 million to expand business across the European continent…

Backed by this new funding, CleverConnect aims to accelerate the spread of its solutions in Europe. To achieve this, the company plans to double down on in Germany, strengthen its presence in Southern Europe, and expand into Northern Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia). In more concrete actions, this means:

–        an increase in the number of employees already present in Spain and Italy (+15 hires planned)

–        Opening an office in Germany (early 2022), sustained by recruiting a team of 20 people.

–        Starting presence in Northern Europe (Netherlands, Denmark), with 5 hires

In total, no less than 150 new hires are anticipated between now and the end of 2022, 40 of which will bolster CleverConnect’s international ambitions, primarily in sales positions. More than 100 employees will also join the company’s French workforce, half of them working for product and tech.

… to become the leader for Talent Acquisition driven by AI

This new phase is a mark of CleverConnect’s strong intent to support more and more companies of all sizes (from SMEs to Enterprises) in all their recruitment needs, both in France and abroad, as well as more and more candidates in their job search. With over 7.5 million people already subscribed to its Meteojob platform, this expansion into the European market should enable the company to reach out and assist over 25 million candidates by the end of 2023. On this basis CleverConnect aims to become the European leader in Talent Acquisition by 2024.

This is a realistic ambition in a particularly high-potential market where, following the pandemic that has had an impact on working methods, companies have significantly accelerated digitizing HR and recruitment processes. CleverConnect was able to grow significantly over the past years, especially with tools like Video Interviewing, Smart Career Websites and CV Matching. In 2020 alone 840,000 video interviews were conducted – a 120% increase.

“We are entering an extremely tense recruitment period in Europe over the next 24 months, due to the post-Covid recovery, high turnover in companies, and labour shortages in many sectors. Given the context, recruitment has become a strategic challenge for companies more than ever before,” emphasizes Marko Vujasinovic, CEO of CleverConnect.

“These companies will have to undergo an in-depth transformation and start taking their recruitment processes digital, to make them more agile and more responsive to candidates, at the risk of finding themselves in a difficult situation. Clearly, AI will play a major role in transforming recruitment processes by connecting companies and candidates while suggesting new career paths and opportunities,” adds Louis Coulon, co-founder of CleverConnect.

“If we are investing so much in R&D, it is also because we believe in the role we can play in transforming the labour market, to be more transparent, equitable, and just. That is also why we are so committed, and it’s CleverConnect ultimate goal” says Gonzague Lefebvre, Co-founder in charge of the group’s strategy.

Julian Mattes, Partner at Digital+ Partners: “The rising Talent war puts an AI-based recruitment solution on the agenda of many companies. We firmly believe that CleverConnect will establish itself as the leading pan-European recruitment software. We are happy to support the team around Marko, Louis and Gonzague with their scaling.”

About CleverConnect
CleverConnect is an expert in French HR Technology, helping more than 2,500 companies to rethink their recruitment strategy in order to successfully attract, convert and evaluate their candidates in an intelligent and innovative way. To do so, CleverConnect offers SaaS solutions for résumé matching, video interviewing and intelligent career sites. These solutions are currently used by clients, major accounts such as Leroy Merlin, Orange, SMCP, Colas, Korian, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole… CleverConnect also owns the job search site meteojob.com that lists more than 200,000 online job offers with 7.5 million registered users. In 2019, the company secured a €5.5 million round of financing from Sofiouest and impact investment fund, Citizen Capital. With operations in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, CleverConnect now employs a team of 180 people. www.cleverconnect.com

About Digital+ Partners
Based in Frankfurt and Munich, Germany, Digital+ Partners is a leading technology growth equity investor focused on DACH and European technology companies with over €550 million assets under management. Digital+ Partners aims to support ambitious entrepreneurs build global technology leaders, providing them with strategic advice and long-term financial support to help them define and execute their growth plans. Digital+ Partners focuses exclusively on B2B technology companies and leverages a deep corporate network to help portfolio companies access new markets and build new partnerships. www.dplus.partners

Contact:

Lenka Hildebrand | Investor Relations Manager

Direct: +49 69 907 2019-48

Lenka.Hildebrand@dplus.partners