Kenyan startup Fuzu has raised a EUR3.4 million (US$3.86 million) Series A funding round to support the development of the next phase of its career development, grow its team and accelerate expansion across Africa.
Launched in 2015, Fuzu aims to change the landscape of job search and recruitment in Africa, providing AI-powered personalised guidance to individual users, and talent acquisition and data services to organisations.
Over the last five years it has become the most popular career development platform in Kenya, and having expanded to Uganda in 2018 it has more than 7.5 million lifetime users. Last funded in 2016, it has now secured Series A backing to expand its platform, team, and geographic coverage.
“We firmly believe that every human being is born with talent and that every organisation wants to maximise their value to their clients. But lack of access to opportunities, support and talent make career builders and organisations fall short of their true potential,” said Fuzu chief executive officer (CEO) Jussi Hinkkanen.
“We change this by providing access to opportunities and personalised learning and guidance; and by ensuring that organizations can access just the right talent and market data, maximising their chances for success. Our aim is to transform the African job markets and to help people learn and grow throughout their careers.”
Investors in Fuzu’s latest funding round include Sparkmind.vc, Finnfund, Cornerstone Enterprises, Aucfan Incubate, Seedstars International, Kepple Africa Ventures, Barona, and a group of individual investors.
“We are impressed about the Fuzu team and what they have built so far, and we look forward to working with Jussi and his colleagues. Fuzu fits well in our investment focus as a prime example of a digitally distributed, personalized lifelong learning solution that can be made accessible to tens of millions of users,” said Sparkmind.vc partner Vesa Laakso.
