The problem
Multi-site restaurants, retailers and care providers overspend on labour and drown in rota, HR and payroll admin
What they do
AI workforce management: forecasting, scheduling, HR and payroll for frontline businesses
Traction $20M ARR, 100+ enterprise customers (Popeyes, Tao Group, Hawksmoor); 400%+ revenue growth in 2023
Hiring trend
- Open roles
- 11
- Ops roles
- 3
- Headcount
- ~245
Headcount ~187 (Mar 2026) → ~244 (Aug 2026) per Tracxn; ~250 on LinkedIn (+55% YoY); Revelio shows flat YoY to Mar 2026
Hiring in
- London
- New York
- San Francisco
- Remote (UK)
Latest news
Sep 2026
Jollyes Pets rolls out Sona across 125+ UK stores; US go-live with Tao Group in May ↗Glassdoor
4.3 ★ 35 reviews ↗Funding
- Last round
- $45M
- Stage
- Series B
- Date
- Apr 2026
Led by N47, Felicis, Northzone
- Hiring+1.511 open roles on the live job board (10–29 roles = +1.5)
- Funding recency+1.5Series B · $45M, Apr 2026 (6 months ago): 6 months or less = +1.5
- Traction—$20M ARR, 100+ enterprise customers (Popeyes, Tao Group, Hawksmoor); 400%+ revenue growth in 2023
- Red flags—Noted below (−1 each when significant)Minor, not scored: several 2026 Glassdoor reviews say culture slipped after the Series B (flat pay rises, cancelled meetups, heavy AI-output pressure); no layoffs, lawsuits or down round foundGlassdoor: 'It has gone incredibly downhill in the past year' (Sep 2026) ↗ · Glassdoor: Sona (UK) reviews, 4.3 from 35 ↗
- Total4.0Stored score → Tempo (3.5–4.24)
Hiring and funding from the stored fields add up to +3. The stored score of 4 includes a judgment call the fields don't capture (often a boundary month or a round we don't count), so traction and red-flag points can't be split out exactly.
Distance (Half) is a separate read on how long the lead can last. It doesn't change the score.
Distance
Half · edge: hard to leave + learns from use
Payroll and HR system of record is hard to rip out; UKG, Fourth and Deputy are entrenched rivals.
Sources: Sona: Popeyes cut labor cost 3.8% across 120+ locations ↗ · Antler: Sona at $20M ARR, 100+ enterprise customers ↗
Watch-outs
Minor, not scored: several 2026 Glassdoor reviews say culture slipped after the Series B (flat pay rises, cancelled meetups, heavy AI-output pressure); no layoffs, lawsuits or down round found
Sources: Glassdoor: 'It has gone incredibly downhill in the past year' (Sep 2026) ↗ · Glassdoor: Sona (UK) reviews, 4.3 from 35 ↗
Last checked Oct 25, 2026