HiringBranch, a Montréal-based company specializing in AI-powered soft skills assessment, has secured $5 million in Series A funding to expand its operations globally. The funding round, announced Tuesday, was led by Crédit Mutuel Equity, with support from Export Development Canada and Anges Québec.
The company plans to use the funds to expand its Soft Skill AI platform into new markets, including North and Latin America, Asia, and the United Kingdom. The move follows rapid growth, with the company reporting a 330% increase in customers over the past two years.
Co-founder and CEO Stéphane Rivard said the platform aims to provide a more accurate and equitable way to evaluate candidates’ abilities. “We want to unlock the power of soft skills in the workforce by measuring what used to be immeasurable,” Rivard said. “Our native AI technology offers precision in evaluating soft skills, helping organizations improve hiring, talent mobility, and strategic decision-making.”
The platform uses conversational voice and chat assessments to measure role-critical soft skills, allowing candidates to demonstrate job-relevant abilities. Unlike traditional multiple-choice or personality tests, HiringBranch’s approach evaluates candidates’ performance in real-world scenarios.
According to a company study, the Soft Skill AI platform achieves 98% accuracy in measuring soft skills, compared to 64% for similar tools using publicly available large language models. The platform also automates the hiring process for high-volume recruiters, reducing the need for traditional interviews and the potential for bias.
André Couillard, president of Procom and an angel investor, said HiringBranch’s technology is transforming recruitment for companies with high hiring volumes. “This platform speeds up the process, dramatically reduces costs, and selects candidates who perform better and stay longer,” Couillard said.
Crédit Mutuel Equity Associate Nina Ni highlighted the platform’s role in promoting fairness and efficiency. “We have seen firsthand HiringBranch using AI for good, eliminating bias, and freeing hiring managers to focus on higher-value tasks,” she said. Ludovic André, managing director at Crédit Mutuel Equity Canada, added that the company is committed to supporting HiringBranch’s growth in the assessment market.
HiringBranch’s approach aligns with broader trends in the skills-first hiring movement, Rivard said. “The future of hiring starts with skills measurement, and we plan to be at the forefront of this paradigm shift as we scale.”
Founded by Rivard and Patricia Macleod, HiringBranch serves high-volume employers, including Bell Canada, and aims to foster diversity and inclusion through its technology. The company says its platform has helped reduce interview time by 80% and cut mis-hire rates to as low as 1%.