Wamly raises R50M Series A to scale hiring platform across borders
What's the deal? South African HR technology company WamlyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised a R50 million (roughly $3 million) Series A round led by Hlayisani Venture Fund II, managed by Hlayisani CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What does it do? Founded in 2020 by industrial psychologist Francois de Wet, Wamly combines one-way video interviewing, applicant tracking, skills and psychometric assessments, and background checks into a single hiring system. The platform is now used to assess candidates across 147 countries.
Why now? The round lands as public debate about artificial intelligence centres on job displacement. Wamly's view runs the other way: across retail, logistics, contact centres, healthcare, and hospitality, businesses still hire at volume, and its bet is that AI should make that process work better rather than remove people from it.
What's the endgame? Wamly plans to direct the capital into three areas: deepening its product with more AI-driven hiring capabilities, growing the team, and expanding into new international markets. "We've proven the model. Now we scale it," said de Wet.
Why it matters: South Africa's unemployment rate remains among the highest in the world, and one overlooked driver is how long vacancies stay open. Wamly argues its product compresses that window, tying commercial growth to a broader hiring mission.
De Wet, who spent years watching large corporations struggle with slow and expensive hiring, was later joined by entrepreneur and investor Marnus Broodryk. Together they built what Hlayisani describes as a capital-efficient business growing internationally.
The signal: "Wamly is precisely the kind of South African business we built this fund to support: real technology, solving a real problem, with the potential to win well beyond our borders," said Brett Commaille, partner at Hlayisani Capital. The round is a bet that structured, science-based hiring tools can scale from local markets to global demand.
Read more: Hlayisani Capital
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
