Kiku, a Copenhagen-based startup, has secured €4 million in seed funding to accelerate the expansion of its AI agent for frontline hiring across Europe. The company’s virtual agent, Sara, automates candidate screening, note-taking during interviews, and job-candidate matching using AI. Targeting high-volume sectors such as retail, logistics, and healthcare, Kiku claims it helps recruiters save 81% of their time, boosts candidate satisfaction to 93%, and speeds up time-to-hire by 75%. The round was led by Cherry Ventures with participation from Job&Talent’s co-founder, positioning Kiku as a foundational infrastructure for next-gen hiring systems.

Copenhagen, July 16, 2025 – Danish AI recruitment startup Kiku has raised €4 million in a seed funding round led by early-stage VC firm Cherry Ventures, with participation from Felipe Navío, co-founder of workforce platform Job&Talent. The funding will support Kiku’s expansion across key European markets and further development of its end-to-end AI agent for high-volume hiring.

Kiku is reimagining frontline recruitment through an AI-native platform designed to automate hiring for roles in retail, logistics, healthcare, and hospitality. Its flagship product, Sara, is not just an assistant—it’s a full-stack AI hiring agent capable of sourcing, screening, scheduling interviews, capturing structured notes, and providing hiring recommendations.

An AI Agent That Executes, Not Just Assists

According to getkiku.com, the company’s AI agent “Sara” can be deployed in under three minutes, requires no coding, and integrates seamlessly with applicant tracking systems (ATS), CRMs, calendars (e.g., Google Calendar), and video conferencing tools.

What sets Kiku apart is its autonomous execution capability. Sara performs actual recruiter tasks—like scheduling interviews or summarizing calls—and learns continuously through context, memory, and feedback loops. This allows recruiters and hiring managers to focus on decision-making, not administration.

Kiku’s key performance metrics from clients across the Nordics, UK, and U.S. include:

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  81% reduction in recruiter time spent

  
  


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  93% candidate satisfaction

  
  


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  75% faster time-to-hire

  
  

Beyond Tools: Building the Hiring Operating System

While the market is seeing an influx of AI-powered recruitment assistants—from Paradox’s Olivia to SmartRecruiters’ Winston—Kiku positions itself as AI-native hiring infrastructure, not just recruitment software.

“Kiku has the potential to become the core operating layer for frontline hiring,” said Cherry Ventures in its investment statement. “As they scale from screening to sourcing, and integrate with payroll and onboarding systems, they’re building a data-driven loop that can identify passive candidates and reduce time-to-productivity.”

Kiku’s long-term vision is to replace legacy recruiter coordination layers and deliver recruiting-as-a-service to high-volume employers—no clunky dashboards, no manual steps, just intelligent execution.

Strategic Investors Signal Confidence in Industrial-Scale Recruiting

The inclusion of Job&Talent co-founder Felipe Navío in the investor lineup highlights Kiku’s relevance in high-frequency employment markets. With Job&Talent itself raising €92M earlier this year, backing Kiku reflects a broader confidence in infrastructure-led hiring automation, particularly for labor-constrained sectors.

As AI continues to transform repetitive workflows, Kiku’s focus on execution-grade agents and candidate experience optimization positions it uniquely in the future of enterprise hiring.