WhyBrilliant Raises €1 Million and Aims to Reinvent Recruitment with Voice AI

The Berlin-based HR tech startup WhyBrilliant has secured €1 million in pre-seed funding. Merantix Capital is the sole investor. With the fresh capital, the company plans to expand its AI-powered recruiting platform, grow its team, and drive corporate expansion in Europe.

Instead of sending applicants through an ever-increasing number of job postings, WhyBrilliant flips the recruiting process on its head. In a sense, companies apply to suitable talent.

Recruiting suffers from inefficiency

The job market is more digital than ever, yet many application processes remain frustrating. Candidates send out numerous applications, often receive only a few invitations, and frequently wait in vain for feedback. At the same time, companies struggle with overflowing applicant pipelines, automated filtering processes, and rising costs for recruiting and talent acquisition.

WhyBrilliant sees the root cause in existing market mechanisms. Job boards earn money from clicks, recruiters from successful placements, and career advisors from their consulting time. Whether a position truly suits the person often takes a back seat.

Two AI Agents for the Perfect Fit

Launched in 2026, the startup therefore relies on an agent-based model. The first AI agent, named "Nova," represents the interests of talent. It analyzes more than one million open positions in Germany daily and searches for roles that actually match the candidates’ skills, experience, and career aspirations.

The second agent, “Atlas,” works on the company side. It analyzes open positions and creates lists of pre-qualified candidates.

Only when both agents identify added value is contact established.

Voice AI as a Key Technology

At the heart of the platform is modern speech AI. Founders Patrick Böert and Aleksander Heimrath are convinced that voice AI has now reached a level of maturity that enables genuine conversations with candidates on a large scale.

Instead of relying on resumes and keyword lists, WhyBrilliant conducts in-depth conversations with candidates and uses this data to create a significantly more comprehensive skills and personality profile. This is designed to help companies identify suitable talent more quickly and avoid mis-hires.

Already more than 1,500 professionals on the platform

Even before its public launch, WhyBrilliant first built up its candidate base. According to the company, more than 1,500 experienced professionals from the technology sector have already used the platform.

These include senior specialists, team leaders, and executives from various sectors of the German tech industry. The founders see this as an important foundation for the platform’s further expansion.

Merantix focuses on "Service-as-Software"

For Merantix Capital, WhyBrilliant is an example of the next generation of AI-based services.

Instead of merely providing recruiting software, the platform itself takes on tasks that were previously performed by recruiters. Merantix co-founder Dr. Rasmus Rothe sees significant potential in this for the global HR market, which is estimated to be worth around 380 billion euros.

With the fresh capital, WhyBrilliant plans to further develop its technology, attract new corporate clients, and prepare for expansion beyond Germany.