Impact tranche · Actively raising · 2026

A people-centric model for employment — at enterprise scale.

Employment is the best framework for social inclusion and financial empowerment. Jobful turns enterprise hiring into the engine that funds, scales, and validates real impact for vulnerable communities — without trading off commercial returns. Secured ARR €500K+. Zero churn. 645 vulnerable workers placed in 2025 alone.

Looking for the commercial brief? arrow_forward
Vulnerable workers placed (2025)645via Jobs4all — 4× our ToC projection
People trained (2025)1,349+35% over our 2024 plan
Vulnerable people reached (2025)3,452Across all programs
Non-dilutive impact capital€245K+NESsT · EBRD · ERSTE · Cisco · Ashoka
The problem

Talent inequality is broken by design. The technology that creates it can fix it.

The labour market wasn't built for everyone. People with disabilities, refugees, and LGBTQIA+ professionals face structural barriers mainstream recruitment technology was never designed to remove. The cost — to them, to employers, to economies — is enormous and growing.

12%

Severe-disability employment in Romania

Significantly below the EU average. Workplace accessibility, bias, and rigid hiring processes keep millions of capable people locked out of the workforce.

32%

Romania's poverty / social-exclusion rate

The highest in the EU, against a 21.4% average. Vulnerable groups are over-represented in this number — and structurally invisible to mainstream recruitment tech.

Inclusion is an afterthought

Mainstream recruiting tech is built for the majority. The companies that fix that will own the next decade of inclusive hiring infrastructure.

Hiring vulnerable people gets framed as charity

It isn't. People who have navigated displacement, disability, or discrimination develop adaptability and resilience most CVs cannot show. The barrier is the system — not the talent.

Under pressure, inclusion drops off first

Layoffs trigger protectionism and DE&I becomes a "next quarter" problem. Without infrastructure that bakes inclusion into the default workflow, it never gets back on the agenda.

The thesis

Employment is the best framework for social inclusion and financial empowerment.

Jobful envisions an inclusive, equitable workforce market where diverse skills, mindsets, and ways of working thrive — empowering everyone to reach their full potential.— Our vision statement

A people-centric model for employment isn't a charity initiative — it's the only model that scales. When you build inclusion into the hiring infrastructure, every commercial customer becomes an indirect impact channel and every direct programme funds the next. Our €500K+ ARR and 0% churn aren't separate from the social mission — they are the social mission, executed at a scale and durability impact alone can't reach.

Theory of change

From inputs to a globally inclusive labour market.

Every euro of capital, every line of code, and every employer relationship feeds a single outcomes hierarchy — and the assumptions we test against every quarter.

Inputs

  • Capital (commercial + grant)
  • Tech platform & AI
  • Partner network
  • Mission-aligned team

Activities

  • Skilling & training
  • Anonymised matching
  • Employer DE&I enablement
  • NGO digital strategy
  • Community building

Outputs

  • Trained candidates
  • Inclusive hiring processes
  • Digitised NGO partners
  • Accessible platform

Outcomes

  • Workers placed & retained
  • Career mobility
  • Income stability
  • Employer behaviour change

Impact (10+ yrs)

  • Globally inclusive labour market
  • Equitable employment infrastructure
  • 1M+ individuals empowered
Short-term
1–2 years
  • arrow_forwardCandidates gain confidence and skills through gamified pathways
  • arrow_forwardEmployers reduce bias via anonymised profiles + DE&I training
  • arrow_forwardNGOs integrate Jobful into their workflows; more vulnerable-group hiring
Medium-term
2–5 years
  • arrow_forwardIncreased employment for vulnerable groups across target geographies
  • arrow_forwardDecision-makers access inclusive strategies prioritising individual needs
  • arrow_forwardEnhanced employability via tailored skilling systems
Long-term
5–10 years
  • arrow_forward60% of job postings on the platform adhere to DE&I standards
  • arrow_forward75% of participating organisations implement inclusive policies
  • arrow_forwardJobful facilitates employment for 1M individuals globally
Three pillars of impact

One platform. Three audiences. Three impact mechanisms.

Most impact ventures choose one channel. We've architected three — because the labour market isn't one system. Each pillar reinforces the others: commercial revenue from Pillar 1 funds platform investment that compounds across all three.

1Indirect

Corporate / Enterprise

Fortune 500, banks, hotels, energy

Enterprise clients hire vulnerable talent through anonymised candidate flows, DE&I reporting, and inclusivity programmes baked into the platform. Every commercial customer becomes an inclusive-hiring channel by default.

Mechanism

  • Candidate anonymisation
  • Vulnerable-hire reporting
  • DE&I training & meetups

KPI · Vulnerable hires facilitated through enterprise clients per year

2Indirect

NGOs / Public Sector

NGOs, public agencies, refugee networks

Mission-aligned organisations get Jobful's platform infrastructure, scaling their placement capacity without rebuilding tech from scratch. Their reach becomes our impact multiplier.

Mechanism

  • Digital strategy for partners
  • Platform licensing (REN, Startup Refugees)
  • Ashoka NGO-tech POC

KPI · NGOs digitised + multiplier on their annual placements

3Direct

Jobs4all Ecosystem

Vulnerable individuals served directly

The bridge between employers, NGOs, and government agencies. Jobs4all is Jobful's direct-impact arm — a digital-first ecosystem increasing employability for people with disabilities, refugees, and LGBTQIA+ professionals.

Mechanism

  • Direct candidate skilling
  • Inclusive matching
  • Community support & mentorship

KPI · Vulnerable candidates placed + 1-year retention

Communities we serve

Three vulnerable communities. Three named validators. One platform.

Each community faces a structural barrier mainstream hiring tech wasn't designed to remove — and each has a named external partner who vouches for our methodology and funds our work.

People with disabilities

Romania: only 12% employment for severe disabilities

We've built the platform around accessibility — assistive-device support, anonymised profiles to prevent bias, and tailored skilling for digital roles.

Validated byJobs4all · BCR · ERSTE Foundation (€50K+, 2024 launch grant)
🌍

Migrants & refugees

114M people displaced globally (UNHCR, 2023)

Launched for Ukrainian refugees in Feb 2022 and scaled into the Refugee Employment Network — career training, placement, language pathways, and community, without stripping away dignity.

Validated byUNHCR · IOM · EBRD (€50K+, 2022–2025) · IKEA Social Entrepreneurship via NESsT REI
🏳️‍🌈

LGBTQIA+ community

First Romanian company in NESsT Violet Fund

A dedicated programme launching in 2026 with NESsT Violet Fund backing — inclusive hiring and training tailored to LGBTQIA+ professionals, extending the same playbook that works for disabilities and refugees.

Validated byNESsT Violet Fund (€100K+, 2026) · Measurable DEI committee + targets
SDG alignment

Two primary UN Sustainable Development Goals. Direct, measurable contribution.

SDG8

Decent Work & Economic Growth

Every direct placement is a measurable contribution to SDG 8.5 (full and productive employment for all). Our Jobs4all retention infrastructure addresses SDG 8.6 (reduce the proportion of NEETs).

SDG10

Reduced Inequalities

Anonymised matching, bias-resistant AI, and dedicated programs for people with disabilities, refugees, and LGBTQIA+ professionals directly advance SDG 10.2 (empower inclusion of all).

SDG 4 · Quality EducationSDG 5 · Gender EqualitySDG 17 · Partnerships
Performance

The numbers that tell the impact story.

In 2025 we beat our own Theory of Change projections by 4× on placements. These are the metrics we report to funders quarterly — and the ones the €1M Impact Tranche will compound.

Metric2025 actual2026 projectionPillar
Vulnerable workers placed (Jobs4all direct)645700+Pillar 3
People trained1,3491,500+Pillars 2 + 3
Vulnerable people reached3,4524,000+All
Companies adopting inclusive hiring1210+ net newPillar 1
NGO / public-agency partnerships64+ net newPillar 2
LGBTQIA+ programme — baselineBegins Q3 2026Launching w/ NESsTPillar 3 expansion

Why 645 matters more than the projection: our 2024 Theory of Change projected 120–150 placements via Jobs4all for 2025. We delivered 645 — over 4× the plan. That's what happens when the same platform driving commercial ARR also serves vulnerable communities: the technology investment compounds across both engines.

From the founder

Why I built this — and why it doesn't slow down when pressure rises.

MC

Mihai Cepoi

Founder & CEO, Jobful

Speaker · Ashoka partner · NESsT Violet Fund participant

"From our experience, employers look at hiring migrants, refugees, or people with disabilities as charity. That's patronising — and it shows a lack of understanding of the potential of a professional to impact an organisation. People who have gone through struggles are a huge untapped definition of talent."

"The main purpose of any startup is to grow. In our case, we redefined success — it means growing the business, but it also means impacting and making life better for vulnerable communities and for all professionals."

— Mihai Cepoi · From NESsT Violet Fund (2026) & IKEA Social Entrepreneurship (2024)

Validation arc

€245K+ in non-dilutive impact capital, from five institutions that don't fund impact-washing.

Each partner runs rigorous impact diligence before deploying capital. Five, across four years, have backed Jobful's social mission — a cumulative endorsement an impact VC can underwrite against.

2022

EBRD

€50K+ · 2022–2025

Funding dedicated skilling programmes for Ukrainian refugees through the Jobs4Ukraine deployment.

"Supporting dedicated programs for skilling Ukrainian refugees."

2024

ERSTE Foundation

€50K+ · Grant

Funded the official launch of Jobs4all — Jobful's direct-impact arm for people with disabilities in Romania.

"Supporting the official launch of our direct impact strategy."

2025

Ashoka

Strategic partnership

International collaboration framework for developing the proof of concept for NGO digital strategy (Pillar 2).

"Proof of concept development for NGOs digital strategy."

2025

Cisco Foundation

€45K+ · Recoverable loan

Funding AI innovation features designed for vulnerable groups — accessibility, anonymisation, bias-resistant matching.

"Supporting the expansion of the platform with dedicated AI features for vulnerable groups."

2026

NESsT Violet Fund

€100K+ · Latest

First company from Romania to join the NESsT Violet Fund — expanding inclusive recruitment support for the LGBTQIA+ community, with a measurable DEI committee and hiring targets.

"Expanding our impact for the LGBTQIA+ community."

Verification & measurement

Our impact isn't claimed. It's reported quarterly to funders who don't accept impact-washing.

Partner-validated outcomes

  • check_circleEBRD multi-year grant reporting (2022–2025)
  • check_circleNESsT Violet Fund DEI committee + targets (2026)
  • check_circleERSTE Foundation grant outcomes (2024)
  • check_circleCisco Foundation recoverable-loan milestones (2025)
  • check_circleUNHCR validation of Jobs4all methodology

Internal impact methodology

  • arrow_forwardEducation: people trained, peer-to-peer sessions, graduates
  • arrow_forwardEmployment: people placed, in process, retained
  • arrow_forwardEmployers & partners: trained on inclusivity, mentors, available jobs
  • arrow_forwardOrganisation: % of employees & selectees from underrepresented groups

On the roadmap: an independent third-party social-outcomes audit is planned for 2027, and 12-month retention tracking moves into production in 2026.

The impact tranche

€1M dedicated impact tranche. Equity-only. Ringfenced for vulnerable-group outcomes.

Separate from our commercial bridge, the Impact Tranche is structured for funds whose mandate requires SDG-aligned, outcome-tracked deployments. Same Seed-stage valuation. Different success criteria.

Instrument

Equity

Priced at Seed-stage valuation. No special class — impact investors hold the same shares as commercial Seed.

Size

€1,000,000

Suitable for a single lead impact fund or a small syndicate of 2–3 aligned funds.

Returns tracked on

Financial + Impact

Standard equity upside plus quarterly impact outcomes reported against the Theory of Change.

~€500K

Engine 1 · Scaling direct impact

Jobs4all ecosystem expansion + LGBTQIA+ programme launch + Romania → CEE replication.

  • checkLGBTQIA+ dedicated programmes (NESsT-co-funded)
  • checkGeographic replication into 2 CEE markets
  • checkRetention infrastructure — 12-month tracking + post-placement support
  • checkDirect placement target: 700+ in 2026, 1,000+ in 2027
~€500K

Engine 2 · Scaling indirect leverage

Pillar 2 NGO/public deployments + AI accessibility features + Pillar 1 enterprise inclusion programs.

  • checkDigitise 4+ new NGO / public-agency partners (Pillar 2)
  • checkAI accessibility & bias-resistant matching (Cisco-funded base)
  • checkEnterprise inclusivity programs at 10+ commercial clients (Pillar 1)
  • checkReplicate REN / Startup Refugees model in DACH
Mission-lock commitment: Jobs4all operates through Asociația pentru o Angajare Echitabilă as a separately-governed NGO arm. The Impact Tranche includes a contractual commitment that Jobful's commercial direction will not pull resources, talent, or attention away from the social mission — plus an annual public impact report demonstrating this.
Impact-VC FAQ

The questions every impact fund asks. Answered upfront.

Tracked. Outcomes are reported quarterly to institutional funders (EBRD, ERSTE, Cisco, NESsT) that require rigorous verification before and after deploying capital, and measured against our published Theory of Change across education, employment, employers/partners, and organisation dimensions. An independent third-party audit is planned for 2027.
A contractual mission-lock. Jobs4all is governed separately through Asociația pentru o Angajare Echitabilă, and the tranche terms prohibit diverting resources, talent, or attention away from the social mission — backed by an annual public impact report.
The opposite. The same platform that drives commercial ARR serves vulnerable communities, so every euro of product investment compounds across both engines — which is how we delivered 645 placements in 2025 against a 120–150 projection.
Direct-impact programmes are co-funded by a diversified base of five institutions across four years, and the commercial engine (€500K+ ARR, 0% churn, 76% gross margin) underwrites platform continuity independent of any single grant.
Impact investors hold the same equity class as commercial Seed, so financial and impact outcomes move together. The mission-lock and quarterly impact reporting are designed to survive future rounds and any exit.
Our SDG 8 + 10 alignment, Theory of Change, and outcome-tracking framework are built to support Article 9 ("dark green") diligence. We'll walk your compliance team through the methodology and funder reports during the NDA process.
Next steps

If you fund employment-as-inclusion, we should talk.

The Impact Tranche is open through 2026. Minimum ticket €250K, lead-investor positions available. We're looking for 1–3 funds whose mandate aligns with SDG 8 + 10 and who bring impact-diligence rigour, not just capital.

1

Book an impact briefing

30-minute call with Mihai. Walk through the Theory of Change, metrics, and tranche mechanics together.

2

Sign NDA · access data room

Full financials, audited methodology documentation, partnership outcomes reports, and reference contacts.

3

Commit to the tranche

Term sheet, mission-lock clauses, and quarterly impact reporting schedule signed digitally.

description
Theory of Change (full)publicPublic · on request
analytics
Impact measurement methodologypublicPublic · on request
verified
Jobs4all audited social outcomeslockNDA required
payments
P&L + 24-month projectionslockNDA required
pie_chart
Cap table (current + post-tranche)lockNDA required
folder_shared
Funder outcomes reportslockEBRD, ERSTE, Cisco, NESsT
€1M Impact Tranche · open through 2026

Be the lead capital in inclusive employment infrastructure.

Lead investor position available. If your mandate aligns with SDG 8 + 10, the next step is a 30-minute conversation.