Elly Debuts AI-Native Hiring Platform and Raises Funding Led by Sorenson Capital

Elly Adapts to Your Recruiting Workflow, Bringing Clarity and Focus in High-Volume Hiring

NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Elly today announced the launch of its AI-native hiring platform along with $8 million in funding led by Sorenson Capital, with participation from Atomic and Next Wave Capital. Rob Rueckert, partner at Sorenson Capital's venture and growth funds, will join Elly's board of directors.

Today, recruiting teams are caught between legacy applicant tracking software that demands constant manual updates and a growing stack of AI tools that don't share information or work together. Teams often juggle five or more disconnected platforms, forcing candidates to repeat themselves, interviewers to work without complete information, and recruiters to spend critical time coordinating logistics instead of evaluating talent.

At the same time, hiring choices don't happen all at once. They develop gradually across sourcing conversations, interviews, and internal discussions. Most platforms track static states or force recruiters to reconstruct judgment calls after the fact, often from scattered notes and incomplete information.

A Platform That Works the Way You Actually Hire
Elly takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than stitching together standalone tools or asking recruiters to maintain rigid workflows, Elly is built with AI at its core, spanning sourcing, interviewing, and applicant tracking as one unified platform. It captures what's happening as hiring unfolds and surfaces what teams need to know next, without manual data entry or constant upkeep.

Historically, interviews and screenings have been some of the most time-intensive and information-rich parts of hiring—yet the insight from those conversations is rarely captured or reused. Because Elly is AI-native, it can interpret unstructured conversations and evolving feedback as they happen, rather than relying on fields, forms, or manual input. Elly treats interviews as an asset rather than a sunk cost. Each screening, interview, and discussion becomes structured, searchable signal that compounds over time, giving teams a clearer picture of candidates and improving hiring quality as volume grows.

Instead of requiring recruiters to push updates into the software, Elly understands what's happening automatically:

• Interviewers see what candidates have already shared—no starting from scratch
• Feedback carries forward as the hiring process evolves
• Next steps stay clear as opinions evolve across the team

The result: recruiters spend less time maintaining tools and more time applying judgment where it matters most.

"Recruiting teams are overwhelmed by software that was never designed to reflect how hiring actually works," said Kristen Habacht, CEO of Elly. "Elly flips that model by understanding the reasoning behind choices as they form. When the platform knows what's happening, recruiters can focus on evaluating candidates instead of administering technology."

Momentum Across Industries
Early customers are already using Elly to manage active pipelines across technology, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality, with teams reporting measurable time savings, including:

• Up to 1 hour and 45 minutes saved per candidate on interview write-ups and documentation
• 3 to 5 hours saved per week by reducing manual note-taking and follow-ups
• 5 to 10 hours saved per week by replacing live screening calls with short, targeted interview reviews

The $8 million round reflects growing demand for technology that reduces complexity rather than adding to it.

"We've backed Kristen before and seen firsthand how she builds products that actually fit how people work," said Rob Rueckert, Partner at Sorenson Capital. "Elly understands hiring judgment as it forms, not after the fact. That fundamentally changes how recruiting teams operate—they stop managing software and start making better hires."

Created as part of Atomic, a venture studio with a track record of launching successful companies, Elly was purpose-built for today's recruiting landscape. The new capital will support continued product development, customer growth, and advancement of Elly's AI capabilities and sales and marketing efforts.

For more information, visit Elly.ai.

About Elly
Elly is the AI-powered hiring platform built around how talent teams actually work, helping them understand who to focus on and what to do next. Designed to reduce administrative burden and improve the candidate experience, Elly helps organizations hire faster and make better choices without unnecessary complexity. For more information, visit Elly.ai.

Media Contact
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SOURCE Recruit Tech Labs dba Elly