Close call for Nova Talent, as it raises Series A for its merit-based professional network

As professionals, we all embrace LinkedIn, right? At Silicon Canals, we surely do: especially because we just love our 45k followers.

But LinkedIn, as a professional social network, is heavily flawed as it mainly showcases your experience, and not your real skill set. That’s what Nova Talent, a startup born in Italy, with roots in Sweden and ties to Spain, set outs to change.

This week, Nova Talent announced a €3.2M in Series A funding led by CDP Venture Capital to expand its merit-based professional networking platform.

Officially Stockholm-based

Founded by Andrea Marino (Italy), Ramón Rodrigáñez (Spain), and Lars-Henrik Friis Molin (Sweden) in 2020, the startup considers itself a pan-European company. Nova Talent’s holding, which received the investment, is officially registered in Stockholm, Sweden, but its operational headquarters is based in Madrid, Spain, with a subsidiary in Milan, Italy.

The Series A round attracted participation from BY Venture Partners and angel investors from the Doha Tech Angels network, adding on previous funding including €524,000 equioty crowdfunding from Crowdcube in April 2021 and $150,000 (approximately €135,000) from Vento Ventures in March 2022.

Altogether, the startup has now collected roughly €4.1M in total across three funding rounds.

According to Marino on LinkedIn, raising the Series A was a close call and almost meant the end of the startup. “If you read our newsletter (TalentFirst), you know how close we have been to not making it; we have experienced at least two moments of life or death.”

He promised to explain more in a later edition of the newsletter.

Nova Talent: a life-time MBA

The funding will be poured into three strategical areas: scaling Nova Recruiter, the company’s B2B SaaS platform meant as a LinkedIn substitute, expanding into other major European cities, and refining the in-app matching algorithm for members.

The platform positions itself as a ‘lifetime MBA’, offering members what traditional MBA programmes provided: brand excellence, powerful networking, and unique experiences powered by proprietary technology.

Nova Talent enforces a rigorous selection process for its professional network, admitting over 25,000 professionals across more than 80 countries. The startup has already collaborated with over 800 companies across industries including marketing, consulting, investment banking, and technology.

Unlike LinkedIn, which bases professional skills on previous work history, Nova’s merit-based approach ensures every member is fully vetted for talent and potential.

Nova’s future technology development focuses on artificial intelligence to improve member matching and the mobile app experience. The company boasts to have already facilitated many success stories through its platform, with members spanning sectors from venture capital to technology consulting.

From tech startups to venture capital backing

CEO Marino himself brings international experience to Nova’s leadership, whilst co-founders Rodrigáñez (ex-BCG) and Friis Molin (investor Talent Venture Group) contribute expertise from Spain and Sweden respectively.

While Nova Talent was founded in 2020, the origins of Nova date back to 1997, when Friis Molin took it up to connect the top 100 students in Sweden. It grew to one of the leading talent networks in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

“We had to rethink and change our approach to find a suitable model that could appeal to VC,” Marino, CEO and co-founder at Nova, explains.

“Our strong unit economics, premium positioning, and social network dynamics convinced top-tier investors. We’re proud to welcome new partners from both Italy and the Middle East, a region where significant talent shortages meets growing demand, making it a strategic opportunity.”

Lead investor

Rome, Italy-based CDP Venture Capital as the lead investor invests through its ServiceTech segment of the Corporate Partners I Fund, focusing on companies that improve productivity in the services sector.

“We’re happy to support Nova as it grows in Italy and expands globally,” said Laura Scaramella, Head of ServiceTech at CDP Venture Capital’s Corporate Partners I Fund. “Nova has had an international outlook from the very beginning. Its value proposition is a great fit for the Services sector -our fund’s core focus – as it helps companies improve their hiring process, cut costs, and identify high-potential young talent, which is becoming increasingly essential to improving productivity in the industry.”

With the global ‘war on talent‘ seemingly not dying down any time soon in Europe, Nova Talent has positioned itself with an interesting approach to professional networking that, with the funding secured, can only continue to grow.