Aetheon, a new startup that helps job candidates map their real world capabilities into work opportunities, has raised $1.24 million as part of its seed round.
Founded last year, the company is building what it calls a “skills operating system” aimed at helping workers — particularly military veterans and recent graduates — translate their real-world experience into language employers can use.
“At a high level, we’re investing in becoming the trusted infrastructure layer for how skills are understood, validated, and mobilized in a rapidly changing workforce,” said co-founder and CEO Marie Gill.
The company aims to solve a problem that’s gotten worse in the age of AI-generated resumes: how do employers evaluate what candidates can actually do? Aetheon’s platform ingests data from more than 100 occupational sources and maps it against a proprietary taxonomy of more than 300 skills, generating verified profiles that workers own and can carry across job opportunities.
Aetheon is pre-revenue and is focusing on paid pilots for veteran, higher-ed, and employer populations. Gill said the company is seeing demand from both sides of the market — individuals who want clearer visibility into their skills, and organizations looking for better signal in a noisy hiring landscape.
Gill, who is based in the Seattle region, was an exec at Executive Networks, Concertus, and Modifi. She also leads the Green Apron Alliance of Starbucks alumni.
Her co-founders are Gina Jeneroux, a 37-year veteran of BMO Financial Group, and longtime entrepreneur and product leader Mark Wayman.
The team plans to use the funding to launch its beta, expand pilot programs with employers, nonprofits, and public-sector partners, and build out its underlying data and intelligence layer.
The company’s investors include Blue Ash Ventures, along with a France-based strategic investor and two senior HR leaders in Hong Kong.
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