Origin Story of Matchr

Matchr didn’t start as a business plan. It started as a feeling. A pull. A moment when I realized I had to build something different.

After spending years at Unilever, I knew I didn’t fit the corporate mold. I wanted movement. Ownership. Impact. I wanted to be surrounded by people who believed in possibility. The corporate world taught me discipline and structure, but it also showed me what I didn’t want: layers of politics, slow decisions, and people disconnected from purpose.

My first step into entrepreneurship was joining a graduate recruitment platform as a partner. It was fast, exciting, and full of lessons. I learned how powerful action can be. I also learned what happens when leadership forgets that people are the heart of every business. It was a toxic environment and it slowly chipped away at my confidence. By the time I left, I was exhausted and unsure of myself.

But deep down, I knew this was my moment. I had always wanted to build something of my own. Something that proved that business and humanity can grow together. That when people feel trusted and connected, extraordinary things happen.

Matchr did not start with a business plan. It started with a phone call.

I had just come out of a tough chapter in my entrepreneurial journey. Leaving my previous company shook my confidence. It pushed me to look hard at what I wanted to build and how I wanted to work. At the same time, I saw a problem in the market that I could not ignore.

Startups were scaling fast, but their ability to hire the right people was slowing them down. Agencies were expensive and transactional. Internal teams could not grow quickly enough. And as an investor, I watched founders struggle with the same issue again and again.

I wanted to fix that.

So I called Maarten, an old friend from my fraternity days. He ran an executive search firm and understood the recruitment world from the other side.

I pitched him an idea that had been living in my head for a long time. What if companies could scale their recruitment function without the limits of traditional agencies? What if you could embed world-class recruiters directly into a company, fully aligned with their culture, charged by subscription, and delivered remotely so you could tap talent anywhere in the world?

That was the moment Matchr was born. Not in a boardroom. Not in a pitch deck. In a simple moment of clarity between two people who trusted each other and believed in the same possibility.

We had no perfect blueprint. What we did have was energy, conviction, and a shared belief that action creates opportunity. Within months, our first clients signed on. And then I did what most people would call crazy. I packed my bags and moved to Kyiv, Ukraine, to build our first delivery center.

I did not know the language. I did not know the city. I did not know a single person.

But I knew this approach to recruitment had to be built from the ground up. So I worked eighty-hour weeks for a year and a half. Every day was a mix of uncertainty, excitement, and the deep satisfaction of building something that mattered.

From day one, we refused to behave like a recruitment agency. We wanted to act as a true extension of our clients' teams. We embedded ourselves in their culture. We helped them scale faster without losing their identity. And we focused on long-term partnership, not transaction.

It worked. Soon, we were helping companies like Miro, TikTok, Booking.com, PayPal and Heineken hire incredible talent around the world. What started with two friends and a belief has become a global team of recruiters and sourcers across 17 countries.

But my proudest achievement is not the growth. It is the culture that grew with us. A culture where people care. Where they feel seen. Where they feel heard. Where they take action. And where they believe that anything is possible.

That spirit evolved into what we now call Matchr Magic. The simple belief that exceptional impact and deep human connection are not opposites. They strengthen each other. When people feel understood, supported, and valued, they do their best work. When clients feel that same connection, they trust us with their most important challenges. Matchr Magic is how we build teams that last and relationships that matter.

This company changed my life. It pulled me out of a low point. It reminded me of what I am capable of when I act with purpose. It took me from corporate offices to Kyiv apartments, from burnout to Ironman finish lines, from fear to freedom.

And today it continues to drive everything we do.

We do not just build teams.We build possibility.