Model developers already have compliance resources available to them. The organisations deploying that AI in day to day hiring decisions largely do not.

That gap matters most in recruitment. Companies using AI to screen or rank candidates risk embedding bias, and facing allegations of doing so, under a growing list of rules, from NYC Local Law 144 to the EU AI Act, often without the tools to check or defend their own systems.

Warden AI is the independent auditor that fills that gap. It certifies AI recruitment tools for bias and compliance, acting as a third party check rather than a vendor helping build the models in the first place, and gives HR tech vendors, staffing firms, and enterprises evidence that their systems are fair and defensible.

Why we invested

Warden AI combines a strong founding team, real regulatory tailwinds, and a genuine gap in the market for auditing AI used in recruitment.

Jeff was the first hire at Onfido, where he rose to Head of Product. Ed was Monzo's first full stack engineer, employee number twenty, and later led engineering at Abatable.

We first backed them with an angel cheque in June 2024, alongside the founders of Onfido and senior operators from HR tech, before they were actively raising, because their clarity of thinking stood out immediately. A year on, we came back to lead their full pre-seed round.

Most AI compliance tools target deployers, the companies actually running recruitment processes. Warden AI instead audits the builders, the vendors and platforms whose AI powers those hiring decisions. That is a far less crowded market. If current regulatory trends continue, every company using AI to hire will eventually need independent oversight like this, which points to a large and growing opportunity.