Seattle-based startup Humanly is buying three recruiting technology companies — Sprockets, Qualifi, and HourWork — as it aims to build a comprehensive hiring platform that unites sourcing, screening, interviewing, and post-hire engagement under a single system.
Founded in 2018, Humanly uses automation software to help companies screen job candidates, schedule interviews, automate initial communication, run reference checks, and more. It targets customers with high volume hiring needs.
The acquisitions each add new tools to Humanly’s platform:
- Sprockets brings sourcing and frontline manager tools to strengthen talent pipelines.
- Qualifi adds automated phone and voice screening, complementing Humanly’s chat, SMS, and video systems.
- HourWork extends Humanly into post-hire engagement, helping companies onboard, train, and retain hourly workers.
Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.
The deals mark a major expansion for Humanly, and comes just after Workday’s $1 billion acquisition of Paradox, one of Humanly’s main rivals. M&A activity in the HR software sector is up this year.
Humanly’s broader goal is to help employers automate outreach and screening for every applicant — not just the small fraction that typically receives a response.
“Anytime there’s a two-way conversation with a job candidate, we want to make that more efficient, more equitable,” said Humanly CEO Prem Kumar.
Generative AI tools have dramatically increased application volume as candidates can mass-apply to openings, according to Kumar. This trend is also making it harder to differentiate candidates.
Humanly is equipping companies with AI tools of their own to help sort through applications, including its new AI Video Interviewer, which launched earlier this year and automatically conducts and transcribes interviews.
Kumar said the goal is not to replace recruiters, but to expand access and fill gaps.
“It’s helping you get to 100% of candidates, not 5%,” he said.
He added that there is some pushback from job candidates who don’t want to engage with an AI system. “But what we’re finding is it’s not the difference between talking to AI and a human — it’s a difference between talking to AI or being ignored,” Kumar said.
Humanly uses the millions of transcripts collected from its AI chat and video systems to train models that score candidates more accurately and help recruiters make decisions.
The startup now claims 600 million candidate profiles and helps companies interview about 250,000 candidates per month.
Kumar said Humanly is intentionally not profitable as it invests ahead in infrastructure. The company employs just over 50 people following the acquisitions; it is hiring some staff from the three acquired firms.
Humanly now has over 100 customers, including Microsoft, Rogers Communications, MGM, and Dish Network. Kumar said the company tripled its revenue in 2025 and plans to raise more investment next year.
The company raised $7 million in May. Total funding to date is $24 million.
Kumar previously spent a decade at Microsoft where he helped integrate LinkedIn data into Microsoft’s products. He co-founded Humanly with Andrew Gardner and Bryan Leptich. The startup graduated from Y Combinator in 2019.
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