Orbio raises $21 million to automate hiring and onboarding for frontline workers

After Sergi Bastardas’ decennary astatine Amazon and floriculture startup Colvin, 1 happening ever stood out  — the feeling that determination wasn’t capable businesslike “human infrastructure” to negociate the workers down the scenes. He took this feeling and, successful 2025, alongside his co-founders Nacho Travesí and Antonio Melé, launched Orbio, an endeavor startup that helps businesses negociate frontline workers — utilizing AI agents, of course. 

On Monday, the institution announced a $21 cardinal Series A successful a circular led by Dawn Capital. The startup says its customers already see Poke and YUM! Brands (owners of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC), to onboard and negociate their frontline employees. Bastardas said customers are progressing from utilizing Orbio successful aviator to present afloat deploying the software. As an example, helium said that astatine behavioral wellness supplier The Stepping Stones Group, Orbio present runs the company’s afloat US operation, with 20% much candidates making it done to get hired

The Orbio agents (Maria, Daniel, and Claire) tin interrogation candidates, measure fit, show worker output, and behaviour regular check-ins passim an employee’s enactment lifecycle. The extremity is to assistance businesses tally their workforces autonomously, Bastardas said, adding that businesses volition beryllium capable to prosecute and enactment the frontline workforces portion besides delegating immoderate workforce operations to AI agents. 

“Each cause generates information that feeds backmost into the others: onboarding signals pass recruiting quality; exit interviews uncover wherefore employees leave, which recalibrates hiring criteria; engagement information identifies retention risks,” helium continued. 

Orbio competes with respective startups — specified arsenic Paradox, which helps automate recruiting, and WorkJam, which helps negociate frontline employees. 

Bastardas considers Orbio’s biggest rival to beryllium the bequest approach, however, to however frontline workers are managed (especially successful industries similar healthcare, retail, and logistics) — a fragmented process that sometimes inactive involves spreadsheets and telephone calls. All of this is changing rapidly, however, successful the property of AI. Orbio has raised $26 cardinal successful backing to day from investors, including Visionaries and 2100 Ventures. Bastardas said the caller superior volition beryllium utilized to prosecute and make much AI agents. 

“This volition beryllium [a] translation for businesses, but besides the workforce,” Bastardas said. “The 2.7 cardinal radical who support healthcare, retail, logistics, and hospitality running, astir of whom don’t person a firm email address, person antecedently got nothing. This is their AI moment.”