The job market is becoming increasingly competitive, with UK employers receiving an average of 140 applications for each graduate training scheme job in 2024, a 59% increase from the previous year. To tackle this influx, companies are turning to AI-powered recruitment platforms, and Maki is at the forefront of this trend. The startup has just raised $28.6 million in Series A funding led by Blossom Capital, with participation from DST Global and existing investors Frst, GFC, and Picus Capital.

Maki's platform uses a conversational AI agent to interview candidates through voice, video, or text, claiming to automate the process by 80% and reduce time-to-hire by 3x. The company has experienced over 300% growth in 2024, securing hiring contracts with major companies such as H&M, BNP Paribas, PwC, Deloitte, FIFA, Abercrombie, and Capgemini. Maki's AI-based agents converse with candidates in natural language, assessing skills and providing personalized feedback to rejected candidates.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Maki's CEO Maxime Legardez explained that the company's agents can be customized to clients' needs, replicating tasks typically performed by humans in recruiting. He cited the example of H&M's AI agent, Maria, which can conduct phone or video calls with candidates, assessing hundreds of skills in multiple languages. Legardez emphasized that Maki's AI is capable of evaluating candidates for customer empathy, collaboration, and resilience, among other traits.

Despite concerns about the impersonal nature of AI recruitment, Legardez argued that Maki's platform provides a more personalized experience for candidates. He noted that 98% of BNP Paribas candidates have reported Maki's recruitment process as the best they've ever experienced, increasing their willingness to join the company. Furthermore, Legardez claimed that Maki's AI shows less bias than human recruiters, having been audited by the state of New York and proven to create less bias toward ethnicity, gender, and age.

Maki's competitors in the AI recruitment space include SHL, EON, Pymetrics, Saville, and others. However, Legardez differentiated Maki's approach by stating that the company is not selling traditional HR software, but rather "working through our agents, automating the work of humans."

The funding will be used to accelerate Maki's product roadmap, expand into the US market, and grow the team. Ophelia Brown, Partner at Blossom Capital, expressed confidence in Maki's potential to enable large organizations to reach new levels of efficiency and decision-making, redefining how HR drives business success.

The news comes as LinkedIn releases its own AI-powered recruitment tool, Jobs Match, which provides immediate advice on whether a job opening is worth applying for. As the job market continues to evolve, AI recruitment startups like Maki are poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of hiring.