Steven Bartlett invests in talent tech disruptor Chapter 2

British entrepreneur, investor, and speaker Steven Bartlett has made his first foray into the booming HR tech market.

Bartlett, who stars on the UK reality TV show Dragons’ Den and hosts the award-winning podcast The Diary Of A CEO, has invested in Chapter 2, a global disruptive talent tech company.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but as a result of the investment, Chapter 2 will also join Bartlett’s wider business ecosystem to future-proof the recruitment platform.

Founded in 2020 by Leo Harrison with the aim of fixing the huge challenges facing companies in acquiring, growing and retaining talent, while also focusing on their culture.

The company has grown 248% year-to-date, and it is working brands like Unilever, Investec, Wayfair, Bumble and John Lewis to help build high-performing teams with the help of technology.

Talking exclusively to UNLEASH about the investment, Harrison, who served as CEO, shares that the company was not looking for investment, “we were really cashflow positive”, but when Bartlett approached in October 2023, it felt just meant to be.

He’s the only person I would have done this with” – Harrison and Bartlett have known each other since 2019. “It was less about the money and more about what I think Steven can do for our business”.

Bartlett added: “The definition of the word ‘Company’ is ‘group of people’. Hiring a great group of people is the single, most important, fundamental objective of any company that has the potential to be great.

“I’ve spent years trying to build a talent solution that would allow my companies and I to find, attract and recruit the world’s best talent.

“The issue I’ve found is that typical recruitment companies are expensive, have misaligned incentives and don’t understand our company’s culture.

Then I discovered Chapter 2, a company designed to fix all of this, led by Leo who is one of the best entrepreneurs I’ve ever met.”

‘Recruiting is a marketing game’ – Chapter 2 CEO and founder

UNLEASH was keen to find out more about the future of Chapter 2 with this partnership with Bartlett.

“Steven and I are very much aligned [that] recruitment is a marketing game – taking a job is the equivalent of a lifetime purchase”, Harrison tells UNLEASH.

Bartlett is going to “bring a lot of marketing power to our business and really elevate our marketing capabilities within the company and help us attract more market share and attract more eyes to our business”.

Harrison adds: “I’ve asked him to lean into our product offering when it comes to the three pillars” of people, process and technology – as an investor and entrepreneur, Bartlett has great perspective on the wider talent and tech markets.

Harrison has big plans for the future of Chapter 2. “We’re at 90 people” across the UK, South Africa, Germany, the US and India, but “I want to get the business to 500 people in a number of countries”.

“Why follow the client demand at the end of the day – I want to continue to invest in and make sure that we are offering something very different to the competition and offers value to our clients”.

Stay tuned.