• Unknown Group commits €1 million of investment in scouting platform Akela Hub. Akela Hub is the go-to platform for innovators to find solutions that solve their challenges;

• Akela Hub is founded by Giels Brouwer, who previously founded the football analytics scaleup SciSports;

• Akela Hub is launching its platform globally, expanding beyond its exclusive service to Unknown Group and its corporate clients like Shell, Unilever, Hyundai, Bayer and many others;

Den Haag, February 21, 2024 — Akela Hub raised 1 million Euros to bring its AI scouting platform to global scale. The company has been in stealth mode for three years and proved itself at Unknown Group in scouting innovative solutions for its investment portfolio and big corporate clients. Unknown Group and founder Giels Brouwer are providing the committed capital.

Giels will lead Akela Hub as its CEO. “I have been working in data-driven scouting in the football analytics industry and implemented the same ideology to scout startups and innovations. After extensive testing within Unknown Group, this is the right moment to launch for a broader audience. Our AI scouting proposition is unique in the market, featuring a database of 5 million companies and smart algorithms to match companies to the specific needs of innovators. I am delighted that we have the opportunity to take off with a team of ten bright minds that are already working together on this project.”

The Management Team of Akela Hub is completed by Yasmeen De Piante (CCO), Jasper Warmenhoven (Head of Scouting) and Gleb Nam (Head of Service Delivery). 

“This is an exciting moment for Unknown Group and Akela Hub. We see that startup and company data is becoming a commodity. The Akela platform helps by providing the companies that are relevant to a solution by sourcing with its AI and human scouts through a database of 5 million companies. We tested the platform extensively with many global partners and used it for getting immediate insights into the competitive landscape of our portfolio companies,” said Hendrik Halbe, CEO of Unknown Group. “Since Giels Brouwer joined Unknown Group three years ago, we validated this product and we are glad that we found our product-market fit.”

About Akela Hub

Akela Hub helps innovators to solve their challenges by finding the right companies through an augmented scouting process that combines AI algorithms with human intelligence. Akela starts where other company data providers stop. We use company data as input and transform this data into a tangible solution that provides actionable insights to the decision makers. The Akela Hub product suite contains an augmented company scouting platform, CRM integration for data enrichment and targeted scouting services. The headquarters will be located in Titaan; the impact hub of The Hague.

About Unknown Group

Unknown Group supports entrepreneurs to scale their solutions that contribute to a better world: “fuel founders to fix the future”. We believe the future is broken and founders have the solutions to fix it as they turn the world’s problems into opportunities. We contribute by developing more and better entrepreneurs, creating environments to increase the success rate of startups and increasing the impact of startup solutions.