Nova, the professional network that connects the world’s best talent, all selected strictly on merit, announces that it has closed a €3.2 million financing round led by CDP Venture Capital, through the ServiceTech segment of the Corporate Partners I Fund, with the participation of BY Venture Partners and the involvement of a network of angels, Doha Tech Angels. This transaction will enable the company to expand its professional social network internationally, with the related expansion of its operations in Italy, and to promote the development of its technology, with a focus on artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2020 by Italy’s Andrea Marino, Spain’s Ramón Rodrigáñez, and Sweden’s Lars-Henrik Friis Molin, Nova applies a selective access and technology model where all members must pass a rigorous selection process that guarantees a community of excellent profiles where every connection is relevant. This model has enabled Nova to select more than 25,000 professionals in more than 80 countries, in sectors such as marketing, sales, strategic consulting, investment banking, venture capital and software, among others, and to work with more than 800 companies.
The company is thus preparing for a new phase of international growth, focusing on expanding its professional platform and strengthening its technology, with a strategic focus on artificial intelligence. The funds raised will be allocated mainly to three directions: entry and consolidation in the main European capitals, the evolution of the algorithm for matching members through the Nova app, and the enhancement of Nova Recruiter, the SaaS B2B platform designed to revolutionise the world of recruiting by offering a more effective alternative to LinkedIn.
“We had to change course until we found a scalable model that would be attractive to venture capital funds. Our solid unit economics, premium brand positioning and the network effects typical of a social network convinced leading investors. We are proud to welcome new partners, both from Italy and the Middle East: the latter is a region where the scarcity of talent, compared to a steadily growing demand, represents a significant opportunity,’ says Andrea Marino, CEO and co-founder of Nova (pictured with the team), in a note.
Nova aspires to have a global impact by connecting the most talented people from every corner of the world. The platform has already partnered with over 800 leading companies to help them recruit talent and aims to increase this number 10-fold in the next two years. The goal is to position itself as an ‘MBA’ for life. In an era where excellent content is increasingly accessible, Nova offers its members everything they used to look for in programmes such as MBAs: a quality mark on their CV, a powerful network of contacts and events and unique experiences, all based on a proprietary technology platform.
“This funding not only validates our model, but also underlines the market’s interest in finding complementary platforms to LinkedIn that better solve, on the one hand, the challenges faced by talent in their career path, and on the other hand, the inefficiencies of recruiting processes, especially for a highly qualified and sought-after type of talent. The increasingly massive dimension of platforms such as LinkedIn highlights a greater need for a complementary professional network where quality takes precedence over quantity. We are aware that professional success does not only depend on talent, but is also determined to a large extent by the quality of one’s network of contacts. That is why we are creating a meritocratic network where every connection is always relevant and value-adding; it is thanks to this approach that hundreds of success stories have arisen thanks to Nova in recent years,’ adds Marino.
“We are delighted to support Nova in its growth in Italy and, in general, in its expansion globally,” says Laura Scaramella, Head of ServiceTech at CDP Venture Capital’s Corporate Partners I Fund. “Nova is an HRtech company that has had an international vocation since its inception. Its value proposition is highly relevant for the services sector, the investment focus of the Corporate Partners I – ServiceTech fund, as it offers a platform that optimises selection processes and significantly reduces their costs, facilitating the evaluation of young, high-potential talent, which is increasingly indispensable in the productivity improvement strategies of industry players’.
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