Sona, a London-based AI workforce management platform for frontline organizations in hospitality, retail, and social care, has raised $45M in Series B funding led by N47. The platform integrates forecasting, scheduling, HR, payroll, and an AI assistant named Raffy to cut labor costs and boost efficiency. The capital will fuel US expansion and product development, including enhancements to its Sona Forge app builder.
AI Funding Heats Frontline Scheduling
The round comes as investors pour capital into AI-driven workforce tools amid UK labor shortages. RotaGeek raised $17M previously, while Deputy secured $143M and Quinyx $103M. Sona's end-to-end AI-native stack differentiates by combining autonomous scheduling with conversational insights via Raffy, targeting multi-site operators facing chronic understaffing.
UK Hospitality Short 100K Workers
UK hospitality has lost 100,000 workers since 2019, per UKHospitality, exacerbating productivity losses of £2.7bn annually in the sector. Care providers report 49% regularly short-staffed, with 54% relying on overtime, according to Sona's research with Care England. Rising wages from the National Living Wage hike to £11.44/hour amplify pressure on margins for frontline businesses.
Agentic AI Drives Autonomous Scheduling
Sona's platform uses AI for demand forecasting and autonomous scheduling, reducing labor costs by 1-2% in the first month for customers like Popeyes UK, which saw 4% savings. Raffy, the AI assistant, delivers real-time insights to managers, while Sona Forge enables custom workflows. Unlike legacy tools, Sona builds natively for frontline ops data, integrating HR, payroll, and compliance.
As Steffen Wulff Petersen, Co-Founder & CEO, noted:
"We had a ten-year plan. AI made it a one-year plan."
This agentic approach unlocks 25%+ EBITDA improvements, per customer results with Salutem Healthcare saving $1.7M annually.
Tier-1 VCs Back US Scale-Up
N47 led the round with follow-on from Felicis Ventures, Northzone, Gradient Ventures, and Italian Founders Fund. Prior investors signal conviction in Sona's AI ops transformation, mirroring bets on enterprise plays like Notion and Personio. N47's AI focus, with exits like Armorblox to Cisco, validates Sona's category potential in frontline workforce management.
WFM Market Doubles to $17.5B
The global workforce management market stands at $8.9B in 2026, projected to reach $17.5B by 2033 at 10.2% CAGR, driven by AI analytics per Persistence Market Research. Another estimate pegs it at $10.6B growing 10.4% CAGR. Trends favor cloud platforms with real-time forecasting amid employee engagement demands.
Planday, acquired by Xero after $73M, highlights consolidation, but Sona eyes enterprise share via integrated AI over point solutions.
Ex-Lazada Founder Scales Frontline AI
Co-founders built Catapult, a gig platform for 10,000 frontline workers in retail and hospitality that raised £4.3M. CEO Steffen Wulff Petersen co-founded Lazada, sold to Alibaba for $3.5Bn, and launched HelloFresh to a €2Bn+ IPO. CTO Ben Dixon engineered Catapult's backend with ML expertise. This operator background equips Sona to address shift work pains directly.
Funds Target US Market Entry
With total funding over $100M, Sona plans US growth from its New York presence alongside London HQ. Recent wins include Loungers (300 sites) and Signature Senior Lifestyle, plus partnerships like Grateful for tipping integration. Richard Tallboy joins as CIO Advisor, ex-PizzaExpress, to bolster enterprise strategy.