TALiNT Partners Insights provides invaluable information that enables businesses to make informed, strategic decisions.
Our curated insights are your tools for problem-solving, fostering growth, and achieving success within talent acquisition and staffing.

Table of Contents

Information

Categories

Author

The winners of TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards Europe 2024

The 42 finalists shortlisted in 13 TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards categories this year represented the sector’s top start-ups and fast-growing scale-ups, generating total sales of £1,002,512,204 and employing 4,447 people last year. 

In a challenging talent market, employers and recruiters turned to HR and Recruitment technology providers to enhance effectiveness and productivity. These innovators and enablers of transformation demonstrated lasting impact on employers, recruiters, candidates, contractors, and consultants. 

As the industry evolves to embrace skills-based hiring, blended workforces, and analytics-enabled solutions, the talent tech sector remains at the heart of fundamental change. Each year, the TIARA judging panel sees game-changing solutions addressing issues like DE&I, candidate experience, and employee engagement. 

Innovative Talent Tech was assessed through five key lenses: employee excellence, innovation, client service, business growth, and fit for the future, to determine the most exemplary solutions in terms of impact and value. 

We extend a huge thanks to our Chair of Judges, Parveen Dhanda, and our esteemed panel of judges for making the TIARA Talent Tech Star Award a prestigious endorsement that enhances brand value to attract clients, investors, and top talent.  

Alongside a huge thank you to our partners Marriott Harrison and Optima for supporting this year’s campaign. Congratulations to all this year’s finalists and the winners of the TIARA 2024 Talent Tech Stars. 

2024 Winners

  • The Workforce Solution of the Year

    Pixid

    Pixid was founded in 2004 by Adecco, Randstad and Manpower, to develop and provide a Vendor Management System (VMS) specifically to support the complex French temporary staffing market. Pixid’s VMS solution now underpins the French temporary staffing market, with over 30% of all contingent workers on the platform.

    Following a management buyout in 2015, backed by Keensight Private Equity, Pixid has significantly grown, acquiring strong existing recruitment tech brands in online staffing and recruitment technology in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium.

    Pixid now operates across Europe and is expanding globally into the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions.

    Their fast-to setup, fast to deploy and easy to use Pixid VMS differs from our competitors by bringing the advantages of VMS in a more affordable, agile and pay-as-you-go package. This enables recruitment suppliers to offer managed services with a lower risk and higher potential for profitable growth than ever before.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Pixid for their impressive global growth and their innovative and adaptable solution, tailored to regional markets and clients. Their quick, easy-to-implement product, backed by strong customer testimonials, showcased their internal and client collaboration.

    Highly Commended

  • The Contractor Solution of the Year

    Jove Insurance

    Jove redefines recruitment efficiency with an industry-first AI-powered insurance validation model. This innovative solution empowers recruitment agencies and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to:

    Instant contractor insurance validation: Eliminate delays by instantly verifying contractor insurance compliance using their AI model.

    Seamless onboarding integration: Their model seamlessly integrates with leading Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Bullhorn and Mercury, triggering validations and delivering results directly within the existing workflow.

    Global coverage and flexibility: Jove offers unique business insurance backed by top-tier insurers (Accelerant, Chubb, MS Amlin).

    This monthly subscription-based plan provides:

    – Global client coverage, allowing contractors to work internationally.

    – Unrestricted travel with no limitations.

    – Flexible pause options for periods of inactivity.

    Borderless compliance: Jove empowers contractors and small businesses across the UK, Europe, and USA to work seamlessly across borders. MSPs and recruitment firms can ensure global compliance when placing contractors anywhere in the world.

    Jove stands alone as the only provider of borderless business insurance in the market. This groundbreaking solution streamlines global contractor onboarding, minimises compliance risks, and fosters a truly international workforce.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Jove for their disruptive approach to the market, with a solution that meets an increasing need for international talent, and the potential to solve a big sourcing problem for the recruitment industry.

  • The Candidate Experience Solution of the Year

    WorkLLama

    WorkLLama is an AI-driven talent marketing, talent relationship management, and direct sourcing suite. It is a native candidate relationship management, on-demand staffing, and direct sourcing platform that helps companies build communities of engaged talent. WorkLLama assists customers in delivering a highly personalised candidate experience for everyone in their ecosystem, including employees, contractors, freelancers, and more.

    Its differentiators include SEO-optimised career sites (job boards, landing pages, campaigns) built with no-code editors; an applicant tracking system (ATS); referral management that creates multi-level marketing and crowdsourced recruiting; an AI-driven conversational chatbot (Sofi); dynamic talent pooling capabilities; integrated omni-channel communications via the Community Forum; full branded mobile capabilities; credentialing management; an automated shift work app; and internal talent marketplaces with MS-Teams/WhatsApp integrations.

    WorkLLama helps organisations leverage their brand to create powerful candidate experiences. Existing talent channels are underperforming, and organisations struggle to find talent for roles, making workforce planning and implementing total talent strategies a challenge. Direct sourcing through WorkLLama’s talent marketing and dynamic talent communities allows organisations to maintain active communication with former employees, silver medallists, alumni, and passive candidates, decreasing their reliance on staffing agencies, creating a new source of talent, and saving time and money with one unified platform.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised WorkLLama for their innovative solution which is solving the problem of candidate engagement and experience, with an AI-enabled talent brand and community aligned to their clear mission to help people find happiness in work.

  • The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year

    Unifrog

    Unifrog is the universal destinations platform, supporting 1.7 million students to make informed decisions about their future and build successful applications.

    A certified B Corp on a mission to level the destinations playing field, Unifrog is used by over 57% of UK schools and colleges, has 30,000 student logins per day, and is fully embedded into partner school curriculums.

    It helps employers to supercharge their early careers recruitment and inspire their future workforce with access to the biggest, most engaged community of students from every background.

    A Unifrog partnership is invaluable to employers as it allows them to raise brand awareness amongst a diverse talent pool, upskill the next generation of their workforce, and develop a talent pipeline of engaged students. They can also connect with motivated teachers and careers leaders through the Unifrog online community and in-person conferences.

    Judges comments:

    Judges praised Unifrog for providing an effective bridge between school leavers and the world of work, closing the disadvantaged gap with a targeted recruitment marketing solution solving an important workforce problem.

    Highly commended

  • The DE&I Solution of the Year

    Vercida

    VERCIDA is a one-stop platform designed to promote diversity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace throughout the recruitment cycle. It offers various features for both employers to attract, train and retain diverse talent across all protected characteristics:

    – Enabling employers to showcase their commitment to DE&I through content-rich profiles and testimonials while advertising their vacancies.

    – Providing data-driven insights to track the employers’ diversity efforts with in-depth DE&I metrics and infographics.

    – Enhancing employers’ DE&I strategy and performance with consulting services and training programmes.What differentiates our solution and why it is valued by clients:

    – Comprehensive solution: Covering job listings, career resources, DE&I consulting, training, and policy development.

    – Enhanced reporting: our comparative data per industry is unique, covering content, job ad performance, and applicant demographics.

    – VERCIDA’s UK Jobseeker Diversity Index: Tracking behavioural trends in jobseeker searches, updated every 6 month, delves into the nuances of diversity, offering actionable insights.

    – Inclusive Employer Branding and Marketing with authentic testimonials.

    – Accessible User Experience: W3C accessible platform compatible with different assistive technologies.

    – Easy Integration: Automatic job scrape with flexible integration options. Applicant tracking and ad filters can be applied by location or function.

    – Client-Centric Approach: Dedicated account managers with industry expertise customising services to ensure maximum impact.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Vercida’s innovative use of technology and strong, purpose-led platform which offers a robust set of tools and resources to help employers attract, train, and retain diverse talent across all protected characteristics.

    Highly commended

  • The Compliance Solution of the Year

    Worksome

    Established in 2016, Worksome provides integrated, end-to-end independent contractor management and compliance. It enables clients to engage – source, hire, onboard and pay – contractors in a fully compliant manner – with in-platform IR35 determinations, insured. Worksome delivers significant time savings to TA, program and hiring managers – who can create a job, classify and contract in minutes. Hiring managers, HR, procurement and finance can access one centralised portal for managing contracts, NDAs, POs and invoices – and finance can see cost and fees across their entire IC talent ecosystem, including vendor fee deadline tracking – saving clients thousands on overpayment annually.

    The platform removes bureaucracy, simplifies compliance and speeds up the onboarding of contingent workers allowing companies to save time, money and frustration with their workforce. Contractors also benefit from Worksome: they get paid faster, access communications and documentation, and love the ease of managing invoices and payment terms within the system. Efficient contractor management is vital for companies who need agility yet have extra pressure to determine a worker’s legal employment status across markets.

    Worksome offers an efficient solution to manage a growing contingent workforce without compromising compliance requirements, and was created to incorporate changing regulations ensuring that employers avoid expensive fines and penalties.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Worksome for its impressive use of AI to streamline compliance processes, significantly reducing contractor onboarding times and providing clients with real-time risk assessments and indemnification features.

  • The Payroll Solution of the Year

    mywage

    mywage is a revolutionary all-in-one payroll solution designed to cater to the gig economy and flexible workforce. It is a fully scalable and customisable cloud-based solution that serves staffing agencies by covering the entire back-office process from source to pay. mywage was created in response to the frustration experienced with off-the-shelf legacy systems. These systems often failed to keep up with the ever-evolving intricacies of the staffing and recruitment industries, presenting significant challenges for these companies. Modifying any payroll system to address and overcome these issues was not straightforward. Clients appreciate mywage because, unlike other solutions, it consolidates the full process into a single, scalable platform.

    Furthermore, mywage’s mission extends to the workforce served by these companies. Employees often experience a lack of transparency regarding payroll information. Believing firmly in workforce empowerment, mywage views payroll transparency as a fundamental step towards achieving this goal. The platform provides the necessary data and forecasting tools that workers require for effective financial forecasting and planning.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised mywage for their innovative one-stop-shop solution, which focuses on shift-based, and on-demand pay solutions, addressing significant client needs and offering real-time visibility, control, and transparency in payroll management.

  • The Employee Experience Solution of the Year

    Oyster

    As a global employment platform that helps companies hire, pay, and care for global employees, Oyster enables growing companies to give valued international team members the experience they deserve without the usual headaches or expense.

    The platform enables people-centric hiring on a global scale with reliable, compliant contracts, payroll, and great local benefits & perks. With Oyster, companies unlock the potential of fully distributed teams and are empowered to increase diversity, reduce wealth inequality, and take care of employees of all backgrounds.

    An Employer of Record solution, Oyster makes it easier than ever to manage full-time employees and contractors all from one platform. With vast integration capabilities, global teams can sync approved expenses, manage time off and employee data, streamline equity management, & record invoices accurately. Helping companies hire faster, the platform automatically surfaces country-specific insights, offers real-time guidance, and auto-generates compliant agreements.

    Further, with built-in compliance, localized knowledge & insights, and in-house legal expertise, customers can expand into new jurisdictions without worrying about compliance or misclassification risks. In a market differentiator for the category, Oyster is the first to enable its partners—rather than compete with them—to expand into global employment without the need to invest in engineering resources or write any code.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Oyster for their ability to cover a breadth of crucial areas such as Hiring, Payroll, Rewards, and Expenses across multiple geographies, addressing the challenges faced by UK businesses with a distributed workforce.

  • The Talent Tech Innovation Award (>30 employees)

    inploi

    Inploi stands at the forefront of recruitment technology with its candidate experience platform that revolutionises the conventional hiring process. The company’s pioneering ‘ploi’ design system affords unmatched customisation of career sites, fostering a personalised and brand-cohesive candidate journey. This innovation is augmented by Inploi’s advanced ATS integration, which harmoniously combines job data enhancement with sophisticated parsing and reverse geocoding for more effective candidate matching.

    Inploi sets itself apart from competitors through the utilisation of state-of-the-art analytics and dynamic engagement tools. These resources offer profound insights into candidate behaviours and interaction patterns, enabling clients to perpetually refine their recruitment strategies. It is believed that no other vendor matches the calibre or comprehensiveness of Inploi’s insights throughout the front-end candidate journey. The technology also encompasses multilingual support and programmatic advertising, optimising reach and engagement within varied candidate demographics.

    Clients greatly value Inploi’s trailblazing approach, which substantially reduces recruitment expenses, expedites hiring procedures, and enhances the calibre of hires. Moreover, Inploi’s staunch dedication to security and privacy guarantees the protection of client and candidate data, solidifying its position as a frontrunner in next-generation recruitment technology.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised inploi for their continued investment in research and development with an AI-led, multi-lingual, programmatic solution that is enhancing the hiring process by humanising interactions and improving candidate engagement.

  • The Talent Tech Innovation Award (30+ employees)

    SourceWhale

    Designed by recruiters for recruiters, SourceWhale is a cutting-edge platform that leverages the latest advancements in AI and automation to enable users to achieve superior results from their business development and headhunting activities. The platform allows teams to create hyper-personalised, multichannel outreach campaigns at scale, leading to increased engagement and meeting rates. With features like data syncing, activity tracking, and automated follow-up messages, SourceWhale saves users hours each week, allowing them to concentrate on the more personal aspects of recruiting—nurturing relationships and matching top talent with opportunities.

    Acknowledging the shortcomings of other tools in the market, SourceWhale has been meticulously developed from scratch to offer unmatched flexibility in integrating into a recruiter’s workflow. This design philosophy ensures that SourceWhale’s extension can quickly adapt to function flawlessly across any webpage, a feat that other systems fail to achieve. Moreover, it facilitates the creation of deep integrations with any CRM or ATS system that customers might use. In essence, SourceWhale doesn’t just supplement a recruiter’s workflow; it becomes an integral part of it.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised SourceWhale for their exceptional innovation in revolutionising recruitment through advanced AI and NLP technologies, enhancing effectiveness in candidate management and business development.

     

    Highly commended

  • The Talent Tech Growth Award

    SourceWhale

    Crafted by recruiters for recruiters, SourceWhale stands at the forefront of recruitment technology, harnessing the power of AI and automation to boost business development and headhunting efficiency. This innovative platform enables teams to launch highly personalised, multichannel outreach campaigns on a grand scale, significantly enhancing engagement and meeting frequencies. SourceWhale’s suite of features, including data synchronisation, activity monitoring, and automated follow-ups, frees up valuable hours weekly, empowering recruiters to focus on the human elements of their work—cultivating relationships and aligning top talent with the right opportunities.

    Recognising the limitations present in other tools, SourceWhale has been carefully engineered from the ground up to provide unparalleled adaptability within a recruiter’s existing workflow. Its browser extension is designed to seamlessly integrate with any webpage, a capability often unmet by competing systems.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised SourceWhale for their market leading growth across a wide range of metrics – from users, clients and revenue to global expansion and strategic hires as well as a detailed plan for future expansion.

    Highly commended

  • The Marriott Harrison Talent Tech Customer Service Award

    Pixid

    Founded in 2004 by Adecco, Randstad, and Manpower, Pixid was created to develop a Vendor Management System (VMS) specifically for the complex needs of the French temporary staffing market. Today, Pixid’s VMS supports more than 30% of all contingent workers across France.

    Following a management buyout in 2015, with backing from Keensight Private Equity, Pixid has seen significant growth, expanding its reach by acquiring key recruitment technology brands in the UK, Netherlands, and Belgium. Pixid now serves markets across Europe and is further extending its presence into the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

    The Pixid VMS is designed for quick setup, ease of deployment, and user-friendliness. It differentiates itself from competitors by providing a cost-effective, flexible, and scalable VMS solution on a pay-as-you-go basis. This model enables recruitment suppliers to offer managed services with lower risk and enhanced opportunities for profitable growth.

    Judges comments:

    Judges have praised Pixid for its dedication to customer satisfaction and continuous innovation. They highlighted Pixid’s substantial international expansion and its focus on client needs. The company’s bespoke solutions are noted for their innovative edge and adaptability to evolving market requirements.

    Catergory Sponsor:

    Highly commended

  • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year

    Janette Martin – Talos360

    Talos360 (formerly 360 Resourcing) are experts in talent attraction, employee engagement, and HR best practice. Firmly established as a market leader in talent SAAS solutions and online recruitment media, their innovations in the HR software space solve tomorrow’s talent challenges.

    They have developed a unique talent operating system which allows in-house recruiters to deliver the ideal candidate journey and put the candidate first, whilst offering a deeper understanding of the workforce to attract and retain the best talent to achieve business growth.

Talos360 is dedicated to offering the very best talent solutions and prides itself on staying one step ahead of tech innovations and the ever-changing employment market by continually adding new features.

    As CEO of Talos360, Janette has over 20 years’ experience in technology software and services, having worked at some of the UK’s leading software organisations throughout her career, including Sage, Advanced, and IRIS. Janette is passionate about people, customers, and business growth, with big ambitions for Talos360.

    Judges comments:
    Judges praised Janette for her exceptional leadership style and consistency in driving growth, fostering innovation, and prioritising both customer and employee satisfaction. Under her guidance, Talos360 has achieved significant year on year growth with new product partnerships.

    Catergory Sponsor:

  • The Talent Tech Champion of Champions

    SourceWhale

    Developed by recruiters for recruiters, SourceWhale leads the way in recruitment technology, leveraging AI and automation to enhance business development and headhunting efficiency. This cutting-edge platform empowers teams to execute highly personalised, multichannel outreach campaigns on a large scale, significantly boosting engagement and meeting frequencies. With features like data synchronisation, activity monitoring, and automated follow-ups, SourceWhale saves valuable hours each week, allowing recruiters to concentrate on the human aspects of their work—building relationships and matching top talent with the right opportunities.

    Recognising the shortcomings of other tools, SourceWhale has been meticulously designed from the ground up to offer unmatched adaptability within a recruiter’s existing workflow. Its browser extension integrates seamlessly with any webpage, a feature often lacking in competing systems.

    Judges’ Comments:

    Judges commended SourceWhale for its market-leading growth across various metrics, including users, clients, revenue, global expansion, and strategic hires, along with a detailed plan for future growth.

Share