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executive search for the digital economy

who we are

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A retained executive search partner specialised in understanding hiring needs of growth-stage digital companies

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Experts across leadership and board-level roles in all functions

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International - we have primary experience across Europe and N. America.

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Specialised - we partner with a network of niche search experts across Europe leading execution as required

who we are not

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A traditional Executive Search firm with a legacy brand. We’re a disruptor, just like you

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Big. We don’t have hundreds of offices and thousands of people. We also don’t have big egos or big fees

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A believer in HR/Recruitment tech that applies AI to "examine the soul of a person” – we prefer the human approach

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Focussed on our share price and our bottom line. Our focus is on delivering success for you – because that creates success for us
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It’s Aneta here, Founder @ KeyHire. Thanks for visiting!

Ever since I started working in the European vc-backed digital tech scene back in 2014, I have seen Founders go through their business growth pains time and time again. So in January 2019, I launched KeyHire with a specific focus on helping business Founders tackle scaling challenges.

For Founders to take their business to the next level of maturity at scale or to drive towards a successful exit, they need a credible, proven and entrepreneurial leadership team. 

That’s where KeyHire comes in. 

We take the “scour the globe in search for the unicorn” burden off you. 

You are presented with a curated talent pool of most relevant, world-class quality candidates interested in your company and the opportunity. We then help you recruit, make the hiring decision and seal the deal.

Both my personal drive and KeyHire NorthStar is to deliver impact to both the visionary companies we work with and the candidates professional lives. Game-changing and often-times life-changing.

Don’t take my word for it, though – scroll through.

‘I had the pleasure of working with KeyHire on placing key exec roles at Hotjar. They introduced us to great matches, and their communication and work ethic is impeccable. KeyHire also invested time to truly understand our needs and what we were looking for. Because of this we’ve given them more roles and they have become a critical part of our overall hiring efforts.’

David Darmanin, CEO & Founder, Hotjar

KeyHire helped us with one of our investments’ UK Leadership expansion needs. They are fast; we liked the fact that they were able to compose on-target candidate list in a very short period of time. They were also able to give detailed info regarding the candidates. They are flexible, open to receive feedback. KeyHire are not a headhunter with “I am done after 5 candidates shortlisted” approach. Very collaborative and responsible. Ready to go extra mile if needed. We will definitely work with them again for our portfolio companies.’

Puren Ucar, Talent Manager Earlybird Venture Capital

‘I’ve had the chance to work with KeyHire on a particularly challenging req (sales leadership for a technical SaaS product) that we needed to fill in Europe. I’ve worked with several external recruiters in the region and KeyHire has really blown me away by how spot on the candidates they introduced us to were. Our requirements were very challenging and they still managed to find profiles who would perfectly fit these requirements. I only have good words to share on their work.’

Gaëtan Gachet, Chief Strategy Officer Algolia

‘We’ve worked with KeyHire on a number of executive search and senior recruitment projects for Gelato.

The search work was conducted to the high standards required by Gelato and as such I would recommend KeyHire as an effective and reliable search partner to growth startups. KeyHire are fast and they manage the communication very well.’

Christian Sæterhaug, VP North America, Gelato

‘I worked with KeyHire during an executive search at dataArtisans. That was a hard search for a variety of reasons, but KeyHire worked especially hard to map out the market and delivered successfully.’

Kostas Tzoumas, CEO & Founder Ververica, Alibaba Group

‘I worked with KeyHire to find a talented Head of UX based on our company needs. Through developing a common understanding of what our priorities were and our Vision, KeyHire helped us to be successful in finding the right candidate. I would have no hesitation in working with KeyHire again to find the right person to join our company.’

John Broome, Head of Product Management & UX, Syncron

KeyHire are doing a great work helping us to find best talents for our company. I highly recommend to work with them.’

Joan Burkovic, CEO & Founder Bankin'

‘I’ve worked with KeyHire on the search of a VP Marketing for PlayPlay which is one of our portfolio companies.

KeyHire are a business-oriented headhunter able to pitch a startup as if they were an investor 🙂

They were highly involved in the process, sourced tens of great candidates and contributed to sourcing a great VP Marketing who joined PlayPlay a few months after we launched the hiring process.’

Mark Laurent, Founding Partner Kerala Ventures

‘We worked with KeyHire in a search for one of our cyber security companies, where they helped us staff a C-level position. KeyHire managed the process very well and we ended up finding a very good candidate. I can only recommend them!’

Benedikt Kronberger, Partner btov Partners

KeyHire was retained to conduct a search for the Head of Studio for Lockwood Publishing. I like the very calm, controlled and curated approach they took to approaching potential candidates. I felt KeyHire made sure they were representing our company in a very sensitive and professional way and yielded excellent results as they approached the candidates in a respectful way. I felt that KeyHire was looking after our interests. Trust is key here as you often feel other recruiters can be inflating salaries and feeding back information that you don’t feel is often the full picture. I would fully recommend using their more curated approach.’

Joel Kemp Co-Founder Lockwood Publishing

KeyHire helped Docplanner on a senior search a while ago. They are a partner rather than a provider. They understand what good looks like and have a relevant international network. If we had not internalised exec search in DP, I would have been thrilled to continue our working relationship. Keep rocking it!

Lucek Samulowski, Co-Founder and Chief People Officer at Docplanner

what makes us different

  • 98% of our customers come to us via referrals.
  • Our approach is consultative, not transactional. Your role is as important to us as it is to you. We don’t sell you a candidate just to fill a role, we promote your brand to credible professionals who will drive your scale-up journey.
  • 70% of our fees are charged once you’ve got the talent you need.
  • We stay with you until we are sure that the role has been filled for the long-term. If you’ve mishired, we’ll run a replacement search for you.

how can we prove it?

Most KeyHire clients became a client because of a referral. 

We don’t sell in the traditional way. 

We “partner” through word of mouth and reputation. 

Pick a logo and we’ll set you up with a reference call.

KeyHire Podcast features business talks with Startup Founders and VC Partners in Europe and the US. We discuss: people, talent, leadership. If you are a Founder or an Executive – tune in for honest conversations filled with actionable advice.

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