Hiring firms in Sweden have raised $4 million to launch a platform where artificial intelligence conducts video interviews and candidates present themselves through short-form clips.
Stockholm startup Fika Jobs is building a system that functions as a cross between LinkedIn and TikTok. The company replaces traditional resumes with AI-powered interviews designed to show personality and communication skills. This approach aims to cut through the inefficiency of the current hiring process, where applicants spend hours writing cover letters only to vanish into an opaque system.
How the system works
Job seekers connect their LinkedIn profiles to the service. Fika’s AI reviews the background and generates specific questions for a roughly 10-minute video interview. The current iteration uses Google’s Gemini models to conduct these sessions.
Once complete, the platform automatically converts the responses into short video clips and organizes them into a live profile. Employers can browse this pool of pre-screened talent rather than sifting through endless applications for new roles.
Founders’ experience
Co-founders Jakob Dubois and Alexander Dubois developed the idea while working on their previous social app, Gaff. Jakob Dubois told TechCrunch that they nearly rejected a candidate because his resume did not stand out. Speaking with him instead, they quickly saw his grit, drive, and ambition.
“Exactly the kind of person we wanted to hire,” he said.
The founders concluded that traits employers value most are difficult to capture on paper. Unlike competitors such as Alex, Maki, and Mercor, which focus on helping employers source and match candidates, Fika lets candidates maintain video profiles that employers can revisit as opportunities arise.
Business model and funding
The platform is free for job seekers. Employers pay no upfront fees, but Fika takes 10% of a candidate’s first-year salary upon a successful hire. The company notes this is lower than the 20% to 30% placement fees often charged by traditional recruiters.
The funding round was led by Luminar Ventures. Alliance VC and King co-founders Sebastian Knutsson and Riccardo Zacconi also participated, the duo best known for creating the hit mobile game Candy Crush.
Launch details
Fika plans to open early access to candidates this week, with a broader public launch expected this fall. The company will initially focus on Sweden before expanding internationally. It currently has a small team but expects to reach around 10 employees by the end of the year.
More than 100 companies are on the waitlist, though the founders declined to disclose their identities. Separately, they said more than 50 companies have tested the platform, including Plenty Labs, SICS.ai, Kognity, and Rebtel.
Of course, video profiles introduce real bias risks that are worth acknowledging. When employers can see a candidate’s race, age, gender, physical appearance, and accent before evaluating their qualifications, it opens the door to discrimination that a resume, for all its flaws, at least partially obscures. There is a reason some companies have moved toward blind resume screening.
What it means
For job seekers, the change is simple: stop writing applications and start recording videos. The platform removes the friction of applying to every single role, allowing candidates to maintain a profile that employers can discover over time. For companies, it offers a way to assess communication skills and cultural fit early in the process, which may be especially valuable for early-career professionals or candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
