Czech it out: HRTech startup Talentiqa raises €1 million to let AI do the first job interview – even at midnight

Talentiqa, a recruitment automation startup out of Prague, has secured €1 million in funding to expand its AI-powered hiring assistant.

The round was equally backed by Purple Ventures and Venture to Future Fund.

“For twenty years I dealt with hiring hundreds of people in retail, hospitality, and gastronomy, and we constantly ran into the same issue. Companies complained there weren’t enough candidates, while applicants complained that firms didn’t know how to communicate with them – often not replying at all. These two worlds were simply missing each other. Sometimes the problem was as trivial as an applicant not being able to answer the phone in time.

“We founded Talentiqa to speed up the initial interview and increase its success rate. Thanks to AI, we can now automate the most difficult part at scale – the first contact, verifying interest, and quickly connecting the right people with the right companies,” says Marek Dian, Co-founder and CEO of Talentiqa.

In 2025, European HRTech startups have continued to attract steady investor interest, with several funding rounds reflecting the sector’s shift toward AI-driven hiring and workforce management.

Danish startup Kiku secured €4 million to address high-volume recruitment, while London-based Metaview raised around €30 million to expand its AI recruiting platform. In Southern Europe, Orbio in Madrid closed €6.4 million to scale its AI-native HCM system, and Skillvue in Milan raised €5.5 million to support skills-based recruitment.

Against this backdrop, Talentiqa’s round represents a comparatively smaller raise but positions it within the same European trend of automating hiring workflows through AI.

While its peers are advancing skills platforms, HCM systems, or payroll solutions, Talentiqa seems to differentiate itself by focusing on AI-driven pre-screening and interview automation, adding Central European representation to a landscape otherwise dominated by Western and Southern European players.

“What impressed us most about Talentiqa were the strong Founders with a deep understanding of the problem. The startup leverages AI very effectively to tackle recruitment in industries where traditional approaches fail. They already have the trust of major corporations, which is a strong signal that their product works and has international potential,” says Jan Staněk, Managing Partner of Purple Ventures.

Founded in 2021, Talentiqa promises to make first-round interviews both faster and fairer, with its platform allegedly saving recruiters up to 100 hours per month and filling roles ten times quicker.

The startup’s founding duo consists of Marek Dian, who brings substantial business management experience, and Miro Šmelko, a seasoned software developer.

The startup’s technology is currently used by major employers including ČEZ, Raiffeisenbank, Bageterie Boulevard, and Manpower. By automating initial candidate screening with an AI assistant that operates around the clock, Talentiqa cuts out repetitive manual work and dramatically improves the speed at which employers can identify promising candidates.

While initial interviews traditionally rely on availability during working hours, Talentiqa says they flip the script, allowing applicants to chat with AI during evenings or weekends – times when job seekers are often more available.

The investment is set to accelerate Talentiqa’s rollout across Europe and beyond. The company was initially launched under the name Jobsider, in close collaboration with HR professionals to test features. It has since focused on its intelligent pre-screening core, rebranding to Talentiqa.

“It’s common that job seekers are still employed elsewhere. When recruiters call them during regular business hours, they’re often unavailable, don’t answer, and risk being dropped from the process. Our system allows applicants to complete the pre-screening through a chat with the AI assistant whenever it suits them – even at night or on weekends – which is key to our excellent results,” adds Marek Dian.

Talentiqa’s AI system is made up of dozens of interlinked agents that perform initial screening interviews, parse CVs (or even handle applications without them), and verify key information such as location, availability, and employment preferences. Candidates who pass are instantly advanced to the next round, while those who don’t still get entered into the company’s talent pool for future consideration.

The solution is particularly impactful for sectors with large recruitment volumes such as retail, logistics, food services, and customer support, but it’s also reportedly gaining traction in banking, telecommunications, and energy.

“We are constantly hiring for dozens of our restaurants. The most demanding part was always the initial round of calls – recruiters often spent half of their working hours just trying to reach candidates, as there are so many and few pick up the phone on the first try.

“Thanks to Talentiqa and its unique solution, we’ve been able to significantly speed up and streamline this process. This gives us more time to personally engage with applicants where it makes the most sense,” says Kristýna Krouželová, HR Manager at Bageterie Boulevard , which started using Talentiqa last year.

According to data provided by the company, Talentiqa boasts impressive results: up to 80% of recruiter time saved, 90% of candidates completing pre-screening within 24 hours, and more than 400% ROI for companies using the platform.

Notably, 93% of applicants reported they would prefer chat interviews as a standard part of the hiring process, and 88% felt more confident and less stressed than during traditional phone interviews.

With a strong product-market fit and a growing list of corporate clients, Talentiqa is positioning itself not just as a Czech recruitment innovation, but as a global contender in the HRTech space.

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