- Spott secured $21 million in its Series A funding, with most of the money coming from Balderton Capital.
- The Belgian startup was founded by three former consultants who noticed that recruiters were losing data due to outdated systems.
- Over 80% of Spott’s new business results from inbound interest, and since January 2026, the company’s revenue has increased tenfold.
While working as consultants, Lander Degreve, Manu Vanderveeren, and Samuel Smeys observed recruiters spending hours entering data by hand into client management systems or failing to update them, resulting in data loss.
“We were sure that AI could provide a solution. AI is good at converting unstructured data into a database automatically, and it is also good at carrying out part of the task, taking over the administrative work and enabling recruiters to concentrate on the interviews and on building relationships,” said Vanderveeren, co-founder and COO of Spott, in an interview with Tech Funding News.
The idea led to the creation of Spott, an AI applicant tracking system and customer relationship management platform aimed at recruitment agencies in Leuven, Belgium. The company secured $21 million in its Series A funding round, with the majority of the funding provided by Balderton Capital.
“It went fairly smoothly. Balderton took over 80 or 90% of the round, which meant that we only needed to find one other investor; the whole process took about four or five weeks,” Vanderveeren remarked.
Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, and Fortino Capital also participated on a pro rata basis.
Consultants who watched the data disappear
Spott deals only with recruitment agencies and provides services in executive search, contracting, permanent placement and temporary staffing. The company was established in 2024 and developed its product from scratch by using a vector database, rather than incorporating AI into existing systems.
“We began two years ago with a focus on AI. Most of our competitors have been around for twenty or twenty-five years, and it is difficult for them to integrate AI effectively into their products. There is no all-in-one AI-native solution, and that is exactly what customers wanted,” Vanderveeren notes.
Spott is unlike more established competitors because Bullhorn, long the market leader, has been owned by Vista Equity Partners since its major buyout in 2012.
Vincere, having previously been supported by Vertex Ventures and Jungle Ventures, was acquired by the UK’s Access Group in 2022. Loxo recorded annual revenues of over $112 million before raising $115 million in private equity funding in February 2025. As Vanderveeren states, all three companies are enhancing their existing systems with AI rather than designing them from the beginning.
In 2024, the market for applicant tracking systems was valued at around $3.3 billion and is projected to reach $4.5 billion by 2030. Although this represents steady growth, AI is rapidly transforming the industry.
London-based company Jack & Jill, which employs AI agents for both candidates and employers, raised $40 million in its Series A funding in September 2026, following a $20 million seed round that took place less than a year earlier. This is part of a broader trend showing increased funding for AI hiring tools this year.
One investor, three priorities
Spott has seen its revenue increase by more than ten times since early 2026, a growth that Vanderveeren attributes mostly to inbound demand rather than active sales efforts.
“Over 80% of our sales come from inbound sources,” he stated, adding that customers find Spott via LinkedIn, the company’s website, and through referrals. The team reflects this emphasis, with around 18 engineers and only three or four salespeople among its 44 employees.
The money raised will allow Spott to expand internationally, develop enterprise features for its larger clients, and remain at the forefront of AI.
Phil Chambers, partner at Balderton who headed the investment, said, “Lander, Manu and Samuel understood this overlooked problem because they had seen its operational and commercial impact first-hand. They have combined that insight with the technical ambition to rebuild recruitment’s core infrastructure, and the speed at which customers are adopting Spott shows they have built the solution this market has been waiting for.”
According to Vanderveeren, Spott’s success has been due to more than just the right timing. “2026 was the year when people began to realise the possibilities of AI. When one person realises how valuable it is, they tell their friends, and that is a major factor in our growth,” he stated.
It will be up to recruiters whether they continue to accept this compromise or oppose the level of AI automation, and this will determine the course of Spott’s next phase of growth.
