At Notion Capital, we look for products that have the potential to reinvent the real economy. The $856bn recruitment industry is a prime candidate for this, having barely changed in decades. Despite hundreds of SaaS tools vying for attention, the core experience remains broken: costs are rising while the quality of service provided by traditional agencies remain inconsistent. Meanwhile, the average actual time-to-hire continues to rise, from 12-15 days in 2010 to a staggering 44 days in 2023.

This is why we are thrilled to announce that we’re leading Dex’s $6M Seed round, joining forces with our friends at a16z Speedrun and Concept Ventures on this journey to reinvent what recruitment is about by giving more power to the candidates and delivering unprecedented levels of scale only possible with AI, at a cost that the traditional human-led recruitment industry cannot compete with. 

Career-long talent agent for candidates 

While most existing products prioritise employers, Dex has taken a different path by working on behalf of the candidates. This approach builds a level of trust that traditional recruiters struggle to match, turning Dex into an ally rather than just another gatekeeper.

The platform leverages voice agents capable of conducting deep conversations to understand a candidate's underlying motivations, salary expectations, and preferred working environments. For employers, this translates into top-tier talent delivered faster and more efficiently while the automation makes this experience possible at a fraction of the cost of the traditional recruitment firm. Dex has already onboarded over 10,000 candidates from some of the world’s top technology companies.

Timing and Domain Expertise

The voice agent technology has reached a point where it can finally handle the nuances of a recruiter-level conversation. Combined with a severe global talent shortage where 39% of recruiters struggle to find skilled talent, the market is desperate for a solution that removes the most onerous aspects of hiring.

We believe Paddy is the strongest founder to tackle this space. He brings over 12 years of holistic experience from his time leading recruitment at scale for Improbable and Sensat and advising other fast growth tech companies as Talent Director at Atomico. Dex is a direct answer to the misalignment he witnessed between recruitment agencies, recruitment software and actual hiring manager’s needs.

Looking Ahead

The deployment of this Seed round will focus on expanding the R&D team and fueling a go-to-market push in the UK and the US. Beyond just matching, Dex's long-term vision is to become a comprehensive career advisor offering interview coaching, salary benchmarking, and continuous support through career pivots and performance coaching.

We were deeply impressed by the initial traction, with design partners like Helsing, Synthesia, and Monzo, and the team's ability to win the talent war through organic acquisition and a strong consumer brand. We are excited to support Paddy and the entire Dex team as they revolutionise how the world gets to work.

Why Notion Capital? A note from the founder…

I met Kam several years ago at a founder summit in Poland. I was impressed with how he thought about building, and his own entrepreneurial endeavours. Fast forward to late 2024, Kam was one of the first people I spoke to about the idea that became Dex. Kam & Notion took part in our pre-seed round through Alphagraph, their early stage program, they connected us to great advisors and angels. A little under a year later, when it came to raise our Seed, it just made perfect sense.

We’ve been impressed with how hands-on and supportive the Notion team has been, across their platform and advisory offerings, they’ve really leant in and supported us through the twists and turns of early stage building. We’re delighted to partner with Notion.

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