Learned: fairer evaluation and rewards with AI

In 2018, they founded Learned: a Dutch HR tech company that makes Performance Management fairer, more tangible and less time-consuming. Today, more than 335 organizations use the platform and Learned is growing rapidly, with Rabobank as a long-term financing partner.

From personal frustration to a scalable solution

The idea for Learned arose from a personal experience. “As a young manager, I noticed how difficult it is to continuously develop employees and evaluate them fairly when you simply lack time or structure,” says co-founder & CEO Rick Kuijf. “Existing solutions mainly digitized existing processes, but hardly took any work off managers’ hands. That had to be smarter.”

Learned developed an Intelligent Performance & Rewards Platform in which expectations, feedback, development and rewards come together in one continuous cycle: the Learned Performance Loop. The platform helps managers formulate clear goals, capture feedback and conduct evaluation conversations – supported by a deeply integrated AI layer.

Fairer, more consistent and less bias

While traditional HR systems often remain dependent on human interpretation, Learned automates much of the administrative work. The AI agent generates job profiles, summarizes feedback, proposes development goals and supports managers in difficult conversations. Feedback is automatically captured via Slack, Teams or email, creating a complete and up-to-date employee file.

According to Jeroen Ekkel, Startup & Scale-up Banker at Rabobank, this is where the innovation power lies. “Because evaluation processes are fully digitized and supported by AI, they are far less dependent on human bias. This results in fairer and more consistently substantiated decisions, based on objective input.”

This objectivity is becoming increasingly important. Think of labor market scarcity, the strong development focus of new generations, and upcoming European regulations on pay transparency. Organizations that cannot properly substantiate performance risk losing talent.

Measurable impact for organizations and employees

The results of Learned are tangible. Among more than 200 customers, after one year the company sees on average:

Managers save up to 32 hours per year, HR teams up to 120 hours. But perhaps the most important effect: evaluation conversations become valuable again. “With our data-driven approach and AI support, we see organizations not only working more efficiently, but also evaluating and rewarding more fairly. That is exactly why we founded Learned.”

Growing with Rabobank

Learned is now clearly in the scale-up phase. Revenue is growing rapidly, more large organizations (250+ employees) are joining, and three quarters of new customers choose the advanced AI functionalities. At the same time, the company reinvests its profits into further product development and international expansion, with Germany as the main focus market.

That requires a financing partner who understands where the company stands. “Learned had outgrown the early stage, but did not yet fit traditional financing,” says Rick Kuijf. “The risk profile does align well with Rabobank’s Startup & Scale-up Team growth financing.”

Rabobank has financed Learned twice so far, in 2022 and 2025. “We really look at the plan and the entrepreneurs,” says Jeroen Ekkel. “Learned has a strong product-market fit, is growing fast and has clear international ambitions. We are happy to support that.”

Rooted in the Utrecht startup ecosystem

Learned is located at Dotslash in Utrecht, the innovation hub of central Netherlands where Rabobank is a founding partner. “It is great to see how Learned has taken on a visible and active role there in a short time,” says the Startup & Scale-up Banker. “These kinds of ecosystems accelerate growth.”

Looking ahead

In the coming years, Learned will focus on further scaling: more partners, expansion in Germany and continued product development for larger organizations and private equity portfolios. The ultimate goal is ambitious but clear: by 2030, the Kuijf brothers want to help 200,000 employees continuously develop, be evaluated objectively and rewarded fairly.

About Rabobank Startup & Scale-up Team

Startups and scale-ups are drivers of economic renewal through their innovative power. They make a significant contribution to solving societal challenges and are a key engine of economic growth and employment in the Netherlands. As such, this segment represents substantial commercial and strategic value for Rabobank. The Startup & Scale-up team supports entrepreneurs who share this mission in achieving sustainable growth by providing access to networks (including international ones), expertise, and financing. Ask for advice.