To date, numerous research papers have been published demonstrating impartiality and unfairness in the hiring processes. Factors like age, sex, and color play a crucial role in hiring.
Based out of Stockholm, Alva Labs aims to fight these biases using data and science-driven candidate assessments.
Raised €11.7M
Recently, the Swedish company announced that it has raised €11.7M in a Series A round. The funding round was led by VNV Global with participation from Tomas Lindén and other leading investors.
The capital will enable the company to fuel its international expansion, product development, modernising the British recruitment sector, and build a world-class UK-based team.
Founded in 2017 by Malcolm Burenstam Linder and Björn Ström, Alva Labs streamlines the hiring process for recruiters and applicants by providing data-driven candidate assessments that accurately predict a candidate’s job success and suitability.
How does it work?
The company’s tests, created by its team of psychometricians, data scientists, and talent acquisition experts, combine AI and machine learning with leading psychometrics and organisational psychology.
With the data-driven testing across logic and personality, recruiters can save time, money, and resources, while also increasing their chances of finding the right person for the right job, mentions the company in the press release.
Further, it also ensures objectivity, promoting equality in the screening process and increasing diversity in candidates.
Growth and clients
Alva Labs says, on average, companies that use Alva Labs assessments are able to whittle down candidate pools to the 10% of most relevant and suitable applicants, without having to look at a single CV.
Last year, Alva Labs tripled its employee headcount, expanding the team from 20 to 60 employees, increasing its candidate pool by 3.5x, and growing its international customer base by 2.5x.
The company works with the likes of Deloitte, Northvolt, Voi, and Daniel Wellington among its clients.
Alva Labs CEO and Co-founder Malcolm Burenstam Linder comments says, “Recruiters are constantly faced with the impossible challenge of knowing what to look for in a job applicant. When individual notions of what is ‘good’ or ‘employable’ about a candidate are applied, the process can fill with unconscious bias and prejudice. Alva Labs provides a solution to this by ensuring objectivity for both recruiters and candidates. This means the right people get the right jobs, which is particularly relevant right now, as the Great Resignation is causing a mass exodus of employees worldwide. We’re delighted to welcome our new investors, who will play a vital role in helping Alva Labs expand into the UK job market so that we can make it a more diverse and bias-free place.”
Investor
Based out of Stockholm, VNV Global (formerly Vostok New Ventures) is an investment company focused on tech-enabled businesses in the field of mobility, marketplaces, and digital health sectors.
In the last two months, the VC has made investments in Swedish micromobility operator Voi Technology and Amsterdam’s delivery startup Borzo.
Per Brilioth, CEO at VNV Global, comments: “At its very core, Alva Labs believes in a bias-free, fair job market for all. The company is transforming the way that businesses recruit their employees, streamlining and improving processes while simultaneously boosting employee retention. We have been continuously impressed by their growth and vision to date, and with such a talented leadership team at the helm, we look forward to seeing their global expansion, and being part of that exciting journey”.
