Spotted Zebra

About Spotted Zebra

Spotted Zebra is a human resources technology company that provides a skills-based workforce management platform for large enterprises. Founded in 2020 in London, United Kingdom, by tech entrepreneur Ian Monk and occupational psychologist Nick Shaw, the company aims to address the global skills gap crisis. The founders believed that traditional hiring practices were outdated and that skills should be prioritized over job titles and academic qualifications.

The company's core offering is a unified platform that combines AI, assessment science, and human expertise to help organizations make data-driven talent decisions. This platform has two main modules: Interview Intelligence and Assessment. It assists businesses throughout the entire talent lifecycle, including hiring, reskilling, succession planning, and overall workforce management. Clients include several FTSE 100 companies such as Merlin Entertainments, as well as other high-profile organizations like Walt Disney, Virgin Media O2, and Paramount.

The platform's features include AI-powered role skills profiling, blended assessments (personality, cognitive, and technical), an AI notetaker for interviews, and instant interview evaluation. It is designed to integrate with existing HR systems like Greenhouse, allowing for a smoother transition to a skills-based approach. By focusing on skills, Spotted Zebra aims to reduce bias, widen the talent pool, and improve hiring outcomes, stating that candidates selected through their platform are twice as likely to be high performers. The business model is centered on providing this comprehensive software-as-a-service (SaaS) to large enterprise clients.

Spotted Zebra has secured significant funding to support its growth. After a pre-seed round of £150,000 in 2020 and a seed round of $1.8 million in April 2023, the company raised £7.7 million in a Series A round in November 2023. The Series A was led by Nauta Capital with participation from Act VC, Playfair, and Entrepreneur First. This funding is aimed at scaling the platform, expanding into new markets, and growing the product suite, with a goal of aligning 10 million people with opportunities by 2030.