Zavvy was founded in 2021 by Joshua Cornelius and Mehmet Yilmaz started. Previously, they Freeletics co-founded. The two explain their new startup:
"Professional development is a key reason why people choose a company, especially for Generation Y and Generation Z. It's only a matter of time before employees who are left alone with their development leave. At Freeletics, we've learned that people naturally strive for growth and how challenging it is to support that. The same applies to professional development. It requires solutions that are simple, social, and integrated into everyday work. Motivation is essential. In contrast, most established solutions are cumbersome to use and inadequate, reduced to managing data, processes, or learning content."
Zavvy leverages existing HR data to create employee programs that are integrated into workflows. To achieve this, the Munich-based company links its human resources information system (HRIS) with communication platforms such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. This allows companies to tailor workflows to their individual needs. Once set up, they run fully automatically and can be easily scaled with the company.
“Zavvy helps companies understand and manage the growth path of their employees”
With the new capital the startup invest in product development and expanding the customer base. To expand the offering, training and survey solutions will be added in the first half of 2022. The total of €3.4 million that Zavvy raised in its seed round came from La Famiglia VC, Emerge Education, and Picus Capital. A number of angel investors also participated, including Renaud Visage (co-founder of Eventbrite and venture partner at Point Nine), Hanno Renner (co-founder and CEO of Personio), and Michael Wax (co-founder and CEO of Forto).
Judith Dada, General Partner at La Famiglia VC, says:
"As companies become increasingly interchangeable in the eyes of strong talent, we believe they must rethink their entire employee experience to remain competitive. Zavvy helps companies understand and manage their employees' growth trajectories—from onboarding to continuous development plans. Joshua and Mehmet have already demonstrated their ability to enable personal growth through the use of technology. It's a topic they are passionate about. They have the skills to build the right team and successfully scale Zavvy."
