Wavo has just announced a 10 million euro raise, after 3.5 million in February 2025 (Lyon Capitale). We supported the Lyon-based start-up on three hiring missions. Here is who Wavo is, what it was looking for, and how we ended up finding people who fit.
Who is Wavo?
Wavo is a Lyon company founded in 2024. Its idea: buy companies' inventory and pay them cash within 48 hours, with no debt and no guarantee. The products stay with the client, who buys them back as they sell. AI agents, connected to management tools, analyze the inventory and the company's data. Wavo serves companies with 2 to 100 million euros in revenue: cosmetics, retail, furniture, home appliances, B2B manufacturers and wholesalers.
With this raise, Wavo wants to strengthen its technology, grow its team and its capacity to intervene, and keep expanding in Europe. More than ten positions are open in Lyon. An AI-native company with a strong writing culture: a demanding hiring ground.
The brief: three missions, five hires
Wavo entrusted us with three missions for a target of five hires: one Partnerships Manager, one Head of Brand and three Sales profiles.
A very particular profile
Taken one by one, Wavo's criteria are nothing exotic. Combined in a single person based in Lyon, they are far rarer. It took, all at once:
An analytical profile, able to read and analyze a balance sheet.
A Sales profile, comfortable with selling and commercial relationships.
An AI-oriented profile, because Wavo is an AI-native company.
A real writing culture, very present in how the team works.
A base in Lyon, where the team is located.
The pool that ticks every box is very narrow. Hence a long mission, and sourcing that had to be pushed far.
The sourcing in numbers
7,000 profiles analyzed
800 profiles contacted
200+ interviews held
400 applications rejected
This is our approach: a wide top of funnel and a demanding filter at the bottom. When the profile is rare, we don't ration the sourcing, and we don't lower the selection bar either.
A demanding selection process
Wavo built a demanding four-step path:
A comprehension and logic test, using AI. Candidates had to model Wavo: understand the business, structure it, and use AI to do so.
Two interviews.
A 3-hour case, to judge the work itself rather than a pitch.
A final interview with the founders.
This kind of process filters on proof, not on feeling: it is the same principle as the scorecard.
The result: three eclectic profiles
By the end of the mission, three profiles were the right fit for Wavo. Three very different backgrounds: one from banking, one from a large account, one from a start-up. For Wavo, the combination of skills mattered more than the career path.
Adrien Plat, co-founder of Wavo, sums it up in his Google review: "Beyond his recruiting skills, what I particularly appreciated is how quickly he understood our company, our culture and our challenges, to the point of truly embodying Wavo with candidates."
What this case teaches for your own hiring
Name what makes the profile rare. Here it was not one criterion but the combination of five. Saying so clearly up front saves months of searching in the wrong place.
Look beyond the industry. Banking, large account, start-up: the people who fit rarely come from a single world.
Make the process match the role. A test and a 3-hour case put off unmotivated profiles and produce real proof.
Accept that the mission will be long. On a rare profile, sourcing volume makes the difference: 7,000 profiles analyzed to find the right three.
A rare profile to hire?
We hire Sales profiles for start-ups and scale-ups, from SDR to Head of Sales. To compare models and fees, see our pricing page. And if you have a role that is hard to fill, let's talk.
