The recruitment space is buzzing with the latest news of Helio AI securing a $1M seed round to improve the global hiring experience. This move is particularly interesting for female entrepreneurs and business owners looking for ways to integrate intelligent solutions into their hiring processes, especially in industries with high turnover such as retail, logistics, and hospitality. As a founder myself, I see this development as a bridge between technology and fairness in the workforce, a challenge many European women-led startups, including my own, often face. Let’s unpack why this matters and what lessons we, as entrepreneurs, can take from it.
A Closer Look at Helio AI and Its Goals
Helio AI specializes in automating and enhancing high-volume and frontline hiring. Founded by a Georgian team and operating out of the U.S., the company tailors hiring solutions particularly for fast-growing markets. Their platform uses an intelligent agent that communicates, analyzes, and acts in multiple local languages, streamlining up to 70% of typical recruiter tasks.
It's not all algorithms though, they integrate game-based psychometric tests to assess candidates fairly. This makes the process faster and reduces bias, a feature that resonates in today’s push for diversity and equity in hiring.
The investors for this round of funding include SABAH.fund, DOMiNO Ventures, Axiom, Tetrad VC, and angel investor Bas Godska. The funds will propel Helio AI’s global scaling and add new product capabilities. They’ll focus on solving specific inefficiencies in industries with high turnover, which is common in many sectors women entrepreneurs lead.
Why Entrepreneurs Should Care
As women founders, we often face higher costs and slower processes when hiring because we don’t have endless resources. Intelligent platforms like Helio AI are changing that by making fair and fast hiring more accessible. Here’s what’s essential:
- Speed is critical. Helio’s automation cuts recruiter workload by up to 70%. For small startup teams where time is money, imagine what you could accomplish when freed from menial hiring tasks.
- Bias kills teams. AI integration with psychometric tests helps assess candidates fairly, which isn’t always something you see in traditional systems still relying heavily on resumes or ‘gut feelings.’
- Emerging markets matter. Not all tools are built for localization, but Helio AI incorporates local languages and cultural context. If you plan to scale globally, this is the type of inclusivity you’ll want integrated into your business.
A recruiter’s decision today determines tomorrow’s team dynamics, especially for startups bootstrapping like mine. That’s why I advocate for accessible fairness-first hiring solutions in every market.
How You Can Learn From Helio AI’s Approach
My journey as an entrepreneur has taught me that growth comes when we focus on usability and customer pain, but it’s often easier said than done. Here are lessons from Helio AI we can all use while developing our products:
- Understand immediate impact areas: Helio chose to focus on frontline hiring, an area often riddled with inefficiencies and high recruitment costs. They went after a real, pressing need in a targeted market.
- Make fairness a feature, not an afterthought: In male-dominated industries, hiring bias is a serious problem that many HR tools unintentionally exacerbate. Wherever possible, your product should demonstrate fairness.
- Design for global application: A multilingual agent is not just a smart choice, it’s a necessary one. If you’re in tech, flexibility and inclusivity should shape your tools from the start.
These strategies can serve as a great foundation guide for startups looking to tackle big problems.
Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid in Scaling
Helio AI has done well in focusing on a niche, high-turnover entry-level jobs. They’re unlikely to waste resources targeting irrelevant areas too soon. On the flip side, here are common missteps to avoid when scaling a business:
- Too many features: Trying to cram too much into your product makes it confusing and less effective. Helio doesn’t fall for this trap. Instead of being a jack-of-all-trades recruitment solution, they focus on specific hiring needs in niche sectors.
- Ignoring feedback. Listening isn’t optional; it’s how teams know if they’re fixing the right problems. It seems Helio has worked with its user base to prioritize actual recruiter pain points.
- Skipping global readiness. Expansion isn’t always a goal for small startups, but if you plan to scale internationally, think about localization early. Language capabilities, cultural subtleties, and even regional workforce trends matter.
Actionable Steps for Women Entrepreneurs
Here are some practical tips to supercharge your hiring process, inspired by Helio AI’s model:
- Identify your choke points. Are you bogged down in sorting candidates? Do assessments take too much time? Pinpoint what's holding your hiring efforts back.
- Explore the market for tailored tools. Some, like Helio AI’s hiring tools, offer high customization for industries not well-served by traditional recruitment platforms.
- Start small. You don’t need massive budgets. There are plenty of free or affordable solutions like ATS software or simpler job posting platforms, especially if you’re in the EU where startup support is growing.
- Measure the data. Keep track of how technology changes your recruitment metrics, time-to-hire, candidate diversity, and retention rates.
These steps can save you valuable resources in your early bootstrapping stages.
What's Next for Leaders Like Us?
Helio AI’s story resonates with many values we hold dear as women entrepreneurs: fairness, efficiency, and scalability on a startup’s budget. I strongly encourage everyone to read more about Helio AI’s funding journey.
The days of manually sifting through CVs should belong in the past for small business owners. With the growing availability of hiring platforms, tailored tools are now a must in our entrepreneurial toolkits. While $1M in funding is clearly fuel for Helio to scale globally, my takeaway is the importance of defining your focus and executing with purpose, on any budget.
In the end, businesses like Helio AI remind us what’s possible when innovation is paired with real-world need. For us women founders across Europe, let this inspire smarter tools and stronger teams for tomorrow.
FAQ
1. What is Helio AI, and what does it specialize in?
Helio AI is a U.S.-based AI-powered recruitment platform founded by a Georgian team. It specializes in automating and enhancing high-volume and frontline hiring processes, especially in industries with high turnover. Learn more about Helio AI
2. How much funding did Helio AI secure recently?
Helio AI secured $1 million in seed funding to scale globally and improve product capabilities for better hiring efficiency. Read details about Helio AI funding
3. Who are the key investors in Helio AI’s $1M seed round?
The funding round was led by SABAH.fund and joined by DOMiNO Ventures, Axiom, Tetrad VC, and angel investor Bas Godska. Discover investor insights
4. What features make Helio AI unique in the recruitment space?
Helio AI integrates a multilingual recruiting agent that automates 70% of recruiter tasks and uses game-based psychometric tests to reduce hiring bias. Learn more about Helio AI's features
5. In which industries is Helio AI particularly valuable?
Helio AI aims to solve inefficiencies in industries with high turnover rates, such as retail, hospitality, and logistics. Check industry applications
6. How does Helio AI improve hiring fairness?
The platform uses game-based psychometric tests and AI algorithms to assess candidates objectively, reducing bias and promoting diversity. Explore Helio AI's fairness approach
7. What geographical regions does Helio AI target for expansion?
Helio AI is focused on scaling globally with an emphasis on fast-growing markets and regions requiring localized solutions. Read about Helio AI's expansion plans
8. How does Helio AI support multilingual hiring?
The platform features an AI agent capable of communicating in multiple local languages, tailored for global scalability and cultural context. Explore Helio AI’s multilingual capabilities
9. What is the impact of Helio AI on recruiter workload?
Helio AI automates up to 70% of recruiter tasks, speeding up processes and enabling quicker decision-making for high-volume hiring. Learn more about efficiency gains
10. Why is Helio AI’s funding significant for female entrepreneurs?
Helio AI’s innovation in hiring technology offers affordable, fairness-first solutions, which are particularly valuable for women-led startups facing resource challenges.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.