The investment comes as youth employment and economic inactivity move higher up the UK policy agenda. Official figures show 957,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training in October to December 2025 and 45% of job seekers now use AI to help write or edit their CVs, meaning employers are increasingly overwhelmed with high volumes of low-quality, irrelevant applications.

urfuture is building a new hiring infrastructure designed to replace outdated CVs and job boards. Its platform combines a social-first Gen Z distribution engine with a proprietary behavioural science job matching algorithm, enabling employers to identify higher-intent, more diverse candidates and reduce hiring bias, making fairer hiring decisions.

urfuture has rapidly gained traction since launching in August reaching over 50,000 downloads. Its social-first growth engine has generated over 160 million social views, positioning the company as one of the fastest-growing Gen Z careers platforms in the UK. At the same time, urfuture has built one of the fastest-growing datasets in the country focused on entry-level hiring intelligence, with 2.4 million behavioural data points collected through its matching platform.

Employers including West Midlands Police, Tesco, British Airways and Scottish Power Electricity North West are already using the platform to attract and assess early-career talent. Early results show significant improvements in hiring outcomes with one employer increasing diversity from 8% to 47% within their applicant pool.

urfuture was founded by Tom Keighley, whose work in the talent space dates back to 2011. Together with Co-Founder and COO, Jayel Williams, and Co-Founder and CCO, Holly Hobbs.

Commenting on the investment, Tom Keighley, Founder and CEO of urfuture, said:

“The UK is rightly focused on how to get more young people earning or learning, but the infrastructure between education and employment is still broken. CVs don’t work for entry-level talent, job boards don’t reach this generation, and AI has made application volume harder to manage while reducing quality. We’re rebuilding that system from first principles, combining social distribution, behavioural science and AI to create a fairer, more effective way to connect young people to work. Our ambition is to become the front door to employment for the next generation.”

urfuture has also supported government-backed campaigns aimed at engaging young people at scale working alongside senior government figures such as Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves & Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, to engage young people due to its social & brand reach.

David Walters, Investment Director for River Capital, said:

“We are pleased to announce our investment in urfuture a platform addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK today: supporting young people in making informed career choices.

At a time when youth unemployment is rising sharply particularly among 16–21-year-olds the need for accessible, high-quality career guidance has never been greater. This challenge is especially acute for those without strong personal or professional support networks. urfuture is uniquely positioned to bridge this gap, providing a scalable and engaging solution that empowers young people to explore entry-level roles, apprenticeships, and longer-term career pathways.

The platform enables direct connections between candidates and employers through its app-based ecosystem, opening up opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach. By combining intuitive technology with a clear social mission, urfuture is helping to reshape how early-career talent is discovered and developed.

We have been particularly impressed by the strength and vision of the founding team – Tom, Jayel, and Holly – whose deep commitment to improving outcomes for young people is evident throughout the business.

Our diligence highlighted a significant and underserved opportunity within the early careers market, alongside strong early traction, including a growing roster of employers already leveraging the platform to meet their hiring needs.

We are delighted to be leading this investment round and look forward to supporting urfuture in its next phase of growth.”

The funding will be used to accelerate product development, including the launch of its white labelled behavioural profiling and screening infrastructure designed to significantly reduce manual screening time for employers. The company will also expand its sales, marketing, and engineering team, and launch a self-serve product for SME and mid-market customers.

ENDS