A Tel Aviv startup that uses AI agents to automate HR processes like onboarding and compensation has raised $24 million in funding.
The HR platform from Shapes essentially offers an app store of AI-based HR tools.
“It means that you can manage your employees your own way. You can install different apps and agents in order to do the job for you,” Shapes cofounder and CEO Arnon Nir told Business Insider.
For example, an AI agent can proactively notify a member of HR that an employee is at risk of leaving, based on data points such as low salary, high performance, and recent absences.
The startup’s AI agents can automate other workflows, such as payroll or contract drafting, based on prompts from HR staff. Employees can use the platform for HR tasks such as booking time off and also ask AI agents for information, including details about company policies.
Shapes, which has rebranded from DreamTeam, was founded in 2020 by Nir and Shirley Baumer, who were previously founding members of HR tech company Monday.com.
In addition to the app store-like structure, which the startup calls “PeopleOS,” customers can build their own bespoke applications on the platform using prompts, similar to vibe coding.
Shapes says its modular design can help companies scale up and down as the size of workforces fluctuates in the AI era.
“Every company needs to rethink its structure, its people, its culture. And every company needs to kind of find itself from scratch,” Baumer told Business Insider.
The HR tech market is highly competitive, with an increasing number of players — such as Workday and HiBob — integrating AI into their solutions. Nir said the modular nature of its software is one of its competitive advantages.
“Every company works differently. You want to give them the power to decide what they want to use,” Nir said.
Shapes says it has “hundreds of customers” located in 79 countries and spanning 14 industries, including retail, manufacturing, and technology. Its customers include Quantum Machines, NextSilicon, Healthee, Arena Entertainment, and Imagen, according to Shapes. It operates as a software-as-a-service business model, charging a flat rate per employee at the company.
The funding consists of $15 million in Series A, closed in October, and a previously unannounced $4.5 million seed investment, as well as a $4.5 million seed extension. The Series A round was led by Entrée Capital, with participation from NFX and F2 Venture Capital, which led the seed round.
Shapes said it would use the funding to more than double its head count over the next year and expand into new markets.
Here’s an exclusive look at the 10-page pitch deck Shapes used to raise $24 million.
