50skills raises $6m to expand AI-powered HR platform

50skills secures $6m for HR automation

50skills has raised $6 million to develop its HR automation platform and bring it to more organisations, Tech.eu reports. The Iceland-founded company combines software-led processes with AI to help people teams manage work that would otherwise require manual administration.

Frumtak Ventures, Swiss Post Ventures, Avant and US family office DRD Investments jointly led the round, according to Tech.eu. The funding gives 50skills backing for both product development and the commercial resources needed to reach additional customers.

Icelandic employers anchor a growing Nordic and UK business

50skills already serves prominent Icelandic businesses, including airline Icelandair, shipping company Eimskip, Blue Lagoon, Domino’s and Securitas. Tech.eu also names Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the City of Reykjavík among its public-sector customers, showing that its customer base extends beyond private employers.

The company is also adding customers across the Nordics and the UK. Those markets represent growth beyond its Icelandic origins, although the report does not identify individual customers outside Iceland or provide a country-by-country breakdown.

The platform links HR processes to software that organisations already use. Teams describe the process they need, and 50skills converts that description into a workflow that can be put into operation, rather than leaving staff to coordinate each step separately.

According to Tech.eu, 50skills has supported millions of actions covering employee onboarding, contracts, signatures, requests, approvals and background checks. Equipment allocation and access management are also among the tasks handled through the system, placing its use across several stages of an employee’s relationship with an organisation.

Kristjan Freyr Kristjansson puts human oversight at the centre

Co-founder and chief executive Kristjan Freyr Kristjansson told Tech.eu that 50skills wants to turn AI’s potential into practical tools for teams managing employees. His stated ambition is for HR staff to determine how employees experience a process, with the platform carrying out the supporting work.

Kristjansson described a division of responsibilities: rules-based automation for steps that must be consistent, AI agents for tasks requiring interpretation, and people overseeing decisions that need judgement. He presented governance and security as essential requirements for HR operations, rather than optional features added around the technology.

50skills says customers have cut administrative workloads and shortened processing times, according to Tech.eu. The source does not quantify those improvements, so the reported benefits should not be read as a measured productivity benchmark for prospective buyers.

Commercial investment and AI agents come next

50skills will use the money to grow its sales, marketing and community teams, while continuing to invest in the platform and AI agents that work with HR staff, Tech.eu reports. That spending combines customer acquisition with further development of the technology supporting delivery.

The round sits alongside other funding for workplace software, including Primo’s €6.9 million raise to expand its AI-led IT platform in Europe. For companies building UK or European operations, the relevant distinction is the function being automated: 50skills focuses on people processes, including the administrative steps involved in bringing employees into an organisation.

Tech.eu does not report a timetable for the team expansion or name additional country launches. For employers assessing 50skills, its growing UK and Nordic customer base is therefore evidence of existing geographic reach, not a confirmed schedule for entry into further European markets.