Via data-rich profiles
Abu Dhabi-based startup Professional.me has secured $3.1 million in seed funding to develop artificial intelligence tools that aim to change how employers and professionals connect during the hiring process.
The investment round, led by UAE firm Raha Beach Ventures, brings the platform’s total capital raised to $4.6 million.
Launched in October 2024, Professional.me has built a platform that uses customised micro-language models (micro-LLMs) to match candidates with employers. The system is designed to overcome limitations in traditional recruitment, which often relies on CVs and standard job descriptions. These conventional tools are frequently outdated or lack detail, resulting in poor-quality matches.
Professional.me’s approach involves building data-rich profiles for both sides of the hiring process. For employers, the software analyses internal team structures, business goals, and historical hiring outcomes. It also enables benchmarking against industry peers.
For professionals, the platform gathers public and private data, such as portfolios, certifications, learning progress, and internal contributions within organisations.
Ryan Adams, Founder and CEO, Professional.me, said: “We are not digitising résumés; we are replacing them.” He explained that each company and jobseeker receives a custom AI model that understands their specific context and aims to generate more accurate matches.
The Professional.me platform is not intended to replace existing applicant tracking systems but instead integrates with them. It generates AI-driven shortlists, performs real-time skill evaluations, and delivers what the company describes as “context-aware” candidate rankings.
Since its launch, Professional.me has created more than 300,000 professional profiles and built a user base across Europe, the UK, the Middle East and the North Africa (MENA) region. The company has also attracted over 138,000 followers on professional networking platforms.
The rise of AI tools in recruitment has drawn both investment and criticism globally. While AI is increasingly used to sort CVs and screen applicants, concerns have been raised about bias and the lack of transparency in automated decision-making. According to data from PwC, 48% of MENA companies were using AI in some form for hiring by the end of 2024, a figure projected to grow to 70% by 2026.
Professional.me claims its technology is “bias-aware” and designed to prioritise human interaction, rather than eliminate it. The models are trained on hundreds of millions of data points across 167 industries and 1.2 million tasks.
The company’s development team includes members from 14 nationalities across three continents. It states that women make up the majority of its staff, though it did not provide a specific percentage.
The new funding will be used to expand the company’s engineering and data science teams and to deepen its presence across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. The company also plans to form new research and data-sharing partnerships to train further and refine its micro-LLM models.
Venture capital activity in AI-based HR platforms has seen significant growth, with the global HR tech market projected to reach $35.6 billion by 2028, according to Grand View Research. Within the MENA region, rising youth unemployment and a rapidly growing tech-savvy population have created both demand and urgency for more effective hiring platforms.
Professional.me’s focus on personalisation and context may appeal to employers in sectors with complex hiring needs, such as fintech, energy, and logistics, where the UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to lead regional investment.
The platform enters a competitive space that includes global incumbents and emerging local startups. However, its regional base and Arabic-language compatibility could give it a strategic advantage as hiring trends shift towards AI-driven, skill-based assessments.
With AI continuing to reshape labour markets across the Middle East and Africa, the success or failure of startups like Professional.me may shape how employers approach recruitment in the years ahead.
Hero image: The rise of AI tools in recruitment has drawn both investment and criticism globally. Credit: Sora Shimazaki
