While much of the AI conversation has focused on software developers, office productivity, and enterprise automation, a new wave of startups is targeting a workforce that has often been overlooked by digital transformation initiatives: frontline employees.
Barcelona-based startup Orbio has raised $21 million in Series A funding to accelerate the development of its AI-powered workforce management platform, designed specifically for organizations that rely heavily on frontline workers across industries such as healthcare, retail, hospitality, and logistics.
The funding round was led by Dawn Capital and comes as enterprises increasingly explore how artificial intelligence can streamline recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and workforce operations at scale.
Founded in 2025 by Sergi Bastardas, Nacho Travesí, and Antonio Melé, Orbio is building AI agents that help businesses automate many of the operational tasks traditionally handled by human resources and workforce management teams.
Bringing AI to Frontline Workforce Operations
For years, workforce management processes for frontline employees have remained highly manual. Many organizations still rely on a combination of spreadsheets, phone calls, emails, and disconnected systems to recruit, onboard, and support workers.
Orbio aims to modernize that process through a network of AI agents capable of supporting employees throughout their entire work lifecycle.
The platform’s AI agents can conduct candidate interviews, evaluate job fit, assist with onboarding, monitor workforce engagement, and perform ongoing check-ins with employees after they are hired.
Rather than focusing on a single stage of the employee journey, Orbio connects recruitment, onboarding, engagement, and retention into a unified system powered by continuous data feedback.
According to the company, information gathered during onboarding can help improve future hiring decisions, while employee engagement data and exit feedback can be used to identify retention challenges and optimize workforce planning.
From Pilot Programs to Enterprise Deployment
Orbio’s technology is already being used by several enterprise customers.
The company says organizations including Poke and YUM! Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, have adopted the platform to support frontline workforce operations.
One of Orbio’s customers, The Stepping Stones Group, has expanded its use of the platform across its U.S. operations. According to the company, the deployment has contributed to a measurable increase in successful hiring outcomes by helping more candidates progress through the recruitment process.
The transition from pilot projects to broader enterprise implementation reflects growing confidence among organizations seeking practical applications for AI beyond experimentation.
As labor shortages and workforce challenges continue across multiple industries, companies are increasingly looking for technology that can improve operational efficiency while maintaining employee engagement.
Challenging Traditional Workforce Management Models
Although Orbio competes with workforce technology providers such as Paradox and WorkJam, the company views its primary competition differently.
According to its leadership team, the larger challenge remains the fragmented and often outdated processes many organizations continue to use for managing frontline employees.
For businesses with thousands of workers spread across multiple locations, recruitment, onboarding, scheduling, communication, and retention can become highly complex operations.
Orbio believes AI agents can help reduce that complexity by automating repetitive tasks while providing more personalized interactions for employees.
The company’s broader vision is to create what it describes as a digital workforce infrastructure layer capable of supporting organizations as they scale.
Expanding AI Capabilities for the Frontline Workforce
With the new funding, Orbio plans to continue expanding its AI platform and introduce additional workforce-focused agents designed to handle increasingly sophisticated operational tasks.
The company has now raised approximately $26 million in total funding, including support from investors such as Visionaries and 2100 Ventures.
As enterprises continue investing in AI-driven automation, Orbio is betting that frontline workers will become one of the next major areas of transformation.
While AI adoption has largely centered on knowledge workers and corporate teams, the company sees significant opportunities among the billions of employees working in healthcare, retail, hospitality, logistics, and other operationally intensive sectors.
For Orbio, the goal is not simply automating hiring but creating a more connected and efficient workforce management experience that helps businesses support employees throughout every stage of their journey.