Hi Daniel,

Startups have always been a central part of the UNLEASH HR ecosystem.

As part of this ethos, we’re delighted to announce a new Editorial series that further evidences just how important we believe startups are for the future of the HR technology world.

Each month we will be speaking to and profiling the best and brightest technology startups the HR world has to offer to find out how they aim to revolutionize the landscape for the better.

Up first we spoke to Josh Merrill, co-founder and chief exec of Confirm, to find out how the startup is transforming performance reviews to solve for HR pain points around talent impact.

Shamelessly, it’s also a good opportunity to remind you that the UNLEASH Startup Program Award is now open for entries!

Elsewhere on UNLEASH this week, senior journalist Allie Nawrat was at an exclusive media breakfast hosted by hotel giant IHG to hear about its plans for 2024 and beyond.

You’ll have to read the article to get the full story, but it’s not giving too much away to say that while technology is key to the IHG strategy, people and community are also central to its future success.

Meanwhile, Lucy Buchholz got the inside track on HiBob’s latest acquisition from CEO and co-founder, Ronni Zehavi.

Following the close of its $150m funding round in September, the acquisition of payroll automation platform Pento marks a “significant expansion of our services offering” by moving into integrated payroll, Zehavi told UNLEASH.

Enjoy your weekend!