In response, many of the world’s largest companies have begun to shift towards a skills-based approach to meet their workforce needs. However, these efforts remain fragmented, often confined to isolated solutions. To address this challenge more comprehensively and efficiently, Skillvue, an HR tech startup, announced a $2.8 million funding round to enhance its AI-driven platform. This platform is designed to improve talent allocation, better predict shifts in the job market, and boost retention of high-performing employees.

The pre-seed funding round was co-led by the Italian Founders Fund (IFF), Italy's first venture capital fund established by startup founders and headed by Lorenzo Franzi, alongside 14Peaks Capital, led by Edoardo Ermotti. Other participants included Orbita Verticale, Ithaca 3, the Spanish fund Kfund (known for its investment in unicorn Factorial), and several business angels.

Founded in Milan in 2021 by Nicolò Mazzocchi and Simone Patera, Skillvue offers companies a powerful tool to quickly, objectively, and efficiently evaluate the skills of both job candidates and current employees. The platform supports a skills-based approach in recruitment, talent development, and internal mobility. During recruitment, Skillvue’s proprietary AI technology conducts asynchronous interviews that assess candidates' skills and motivations, enabling companies to swiftly identify high-potential individuals. This method enhances the prediction of actual job performance by up to five times, particularly beneficial for roles where a traditional CV may not fully capture a candidate’s abilities, such as junior or customer-facing positions.

Beyond recruitment, Skillvue provides HR departments with a strategic asset to analyse workforce skills at scale, delivering objective, data-driven insights that inform better talent placement decisions. This approach increases the likelihood of optimal talent placement by 107% compared to traditional methods, aids in retaining top performers, and supports the creation of career paths and training programmes that align with the true needs of both the company and its employees – a significant concern for 73% of workers. Additionally, Skillvue’s technology complies with European GDPR regulations and the forthcoming AI Act.

Skillvue’s platform has been adopted by companies across various sectors, including retail, banking, insurance, and the public sector. Notable clients include Carrefour, Credem, and Acquedotto Pugliese. The company is based in Milan and currently employs a team of 13.

"We are making significant strides into a huge problem facing companies. People have been talking about the skills-based approach for recruiting or existing teams and some have taken steps towards this. With Skillvue, we’ve made this front and centre to help companies own a scalable approach to ensure they remain relevant in time to come. With this funding round we will strengthen our team with strategic figures especially in the AI area, expand our business in Italy, get started on our global expansion and consolidate our tech stack on three key verticals in our space: recruitment, internal hiring and talent development," explains Nicolò Mazzocchi, CEO & Co-Founder of Skillvue.

“Putting skills at the centre of business strategies is now a key element to ensure competitivity both in the short and long term. The data speaks for itself: as stressed by the World Economic Forum the skills crisis is one of the biggest of our time, second only to climate change, for a total cost of about 11.5 trillion dollars. That is why we're happy to be adding to our portfolio a company such as Skillvue, which caters to this problem by helping companies revolutionise their approach to recruitment, internal mobility and development thanks to a quick, effective and scalable skills analysis model,” commented Lorenzo Franzi, Founding Partner IFF.

"We strongly believe that AI can play a major role in transforming the way HR teams and departments operate, particularly in the realms of recruitment and employee progression. Moreover, the assessment of soft skills is becoming increasingly relevant. Through artificial intelligence, HR departments can now uncover unseen potential at scale in both new candidates and the existing workforce. We are excited to be partnering with Skillvue, as their solution stands at the intersection of these two trends and has already proven to be an enterprise-grade product," commented Edoardo Ermotti, Founder & General Partner 14Peaks Capital.