With the 2024 UNLEASH Startup Award now open for entries, here’s your chance to get to know the judging panel on the hunt for the best and brightest technology startups in the HR world.

Returning for its 12th year, this award shines a spotlight on the most exciting and valuable innovations taking place in the HR technology world.

With a sponsorship package prize from UNLEASH worth €50,000 available to the winner, the UNLEASH Startup Award will showcase the best new businesses and ideas.

The finalists will pitch before a panel of expert judges and thought leaders in HR tech, competing for the grand prize.

The competition is a must-see for anybody looking to procure cutting-edge tech or simply curious about what the hottest market trends are today and what the HR tech landscape will look like tomorrow.

Entries for the 2024 Startup Award close on 6 September at 23:49 PST.

Here’s the lowdown on this year’s judging panel:

Moderator: Rebecca Carr, Acting Chief Executive and Chief Product Officer, SmartRecruiters

Rebecca is the Acting Chief Executive and Chief Product Officer at SmartRecruiters. With over 15 years of experience in the recruiting and HR technology space, including as the SVP Growth for SmartRecruiters, Rebecca recently rejoined SmartRecruiters from Checkr, where she was the General Manager for Checkr Pay, Checkr’s earned wage access product.

Alongside this experience, she has led global product teams at Jobvite, Branchout and Playdom (acquired by Disney in 2010). Her deep understanding of the customer problem space, bringing innovative products to customers, expanding product portfolios and deepening customer relationships gives her a unique perspective on this role and space.

When not in the office, Rebecca is a triathlete, mom of 2 little girls, and loves spending time on her pilates reformer.  She attended the University of California – Berkeley and Harvard Business School and lives outside of San Francisco.

Kathi Enderes, Senior Vice President and Global Industry Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company

Kathi is a Senior Vice President and Global Industry Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company, supporting clients and the market with evidence-based insights on all areas of HR, Learning, Talent, and HR Technology.

Kathi has more than 20 years global experience from management consulting with IBM, PwC, and EY, and as a talent leader at McKesson and Kaiser Permanente. Most recently, Kathi led talent and workforce research at Deloitte. She is a frequent keynote speaker, author, and thought leader.

Originally from Austria, Kathi has worked in Vienna, London, San Francisco, and Spain and now lives in Palo Alto, California. Her passion is to make work better and more meaningful. Kathi holds a doctoral degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Vienna, Austria.

Ilonka Jankovich, Impact Venture Capitalist at Rubio

Ilonka is of Dutch and Hungarian origin. At the beginning of her career, she was an M&A lawyer at Clifford Chance for 10 years and had her own law firm. After that, she founded the legal recruitment firm Legal FlexForce based in The Netherlands, sold in 2001 to Monster. In 2003 she moved with her family to Hungary and started a recruitment business in Hungary. ProfiPower became the market leader and was sold to Randstad in 2010. She is an angel investor.

In 2013 the corporate venture firm of Randstad; Randstad Innovation Fund was started. Ilonka manages the fund together with Paul Jacquin. The Fund has done 20 investments to date all in HR tech including: Vonq, Crunchr, Pymetrics, Brazen, Rolepoint, gr8people, and Hackerrank.

Currently, she serves on the Boards of Crunchr, Brazen, and Shiftboard, and is also on the Board of Exact a business software solution provider, acquired by KKR in 2018. Last year she joined the Board of Flowtraders a leading global liquidity provider listed on the Dutch Stock Exchange.

This year Ilonka joined Rubio Impact Ventures. Rubio is an impact venture fund with a thematic focus on three thematic areas: circular solutions, people power, and healthy living. She leads the People Power team.

Chris Hoyt, President, CareerXroads  

A 25+ year veteran of recruiting and HR, Chris Hoyt is a sought-after speaker with presentations including North American conferences such as SHRM, LinkedIn, and HR Technology as well as iRecruit, Australasian Talent Conference, UNLEASH, and more around the world.

His expertise and experience within the recruiting industry and his passion for building strong communities go hand-in-hand with the work he performs as the president of CareerXroads.

For nearly 30 years, the CXR Community has brought together practitioners and leaders with a passion for recruiting, a willingness to share and a compulsion to improve talent acquisition.

Anita Lettink, Partner, Strategic Management Centre

Anita has spent more than 20 years of her career in global consulting, corporate and executive leadership roles. She has in-depth knowledge of the HCM and Payroll Ecosystem and is frequently recognized as a Top25 Global Thought Leader on the Future of Work as well as HR. She is the author of “How to Select Your Next Payroll”.

Anita brings insights and perspectives about the changing world of work to companies, investors and startups worldwide.

She is the founder of hrtechradar.com, where she helps young companies that are innovating the HR industry reach their full potential and supports buyers and VCs with investment decisions.

Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer, Lighthouse Research & Advisory

Ben Eubanks is an author, speaker, and researcher living in Huntsville, AL. He spends his days as the Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, learning about the talent technologies and HR practices that set great organizations apart from the rest.

His book, Artificial Intelligence for HR, may sound like a textbook, but it’s essentially a guide to leveraging technology to create a more human experience for employees around the world. He also hosts We’re Only Human, a podcast focusing on improving human resources, one HR pro at a time.

When he’s not speaking or writing, he spends time with his four kids and runs in a variety of outlandish races for fun.

Piyush Hemnani, Principal at Mediahuis Ventures

Piyush is an ex-entrepreneur turned VC at Mediahuis Ventures.

MHV is a CVC investing in Future of Work and EdTech startups from Europe in Seed to Series B stages. With more than 11 investments in last 3 years, it is a leading Future of Work/EdTech focused VC in Europe.

As a Principal at MHV, Piyush leads Future of Work investments and mentor various startups as a Board Member.

Want more information?

For more tips and insights, join the UNLEASH Startup community here.

And for more information on our Startup packages, which provide marketing opportunities to showcase your achievements, please contact:

Kennedy Cook, Startup & Investor Program Lead – at Kennedy@unleash.ai

Aniko Illes, Startup Business Development Manager – at Aniko@unleash.ai or on 00 36 20 255 87 41.