Sona
Sona is an AI workforce management platform for multi-site frontline operators in hospitality, hotels, social care, retail, and logistics, combining forecasting, scheduling, HR, payroll, ATS, LMS, and an AI assistant in one system.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Sona does
Sona (Sona Technologies Ltd) is a UK-headquartered AI workforce management platform founded in 2021 by Steffen Wulff Petersen, Ben Dixon, and Oli Johnson. The company targets multi-site operators with deskless, frontline workforces across hospitality, hotels, social care, retail, and logistics — selling a unified system that consolidates demand forecasting, employee scheduling, HR, payroll, applicant tracking (ATS), learning management (LMS), engagement, and reporting, replacing a typical stack of fragmented point solutions. Named customers include Wahaca, Popeyes UK, PAUL, Dakota Hotels, Firmdale, Voyage Care, Salutem, and Greensleeves, indicating traction with both brand-led hospitality chains and regulated care operators.
The platform's technical architecture combines a forecasting engine that ingests operational data (sales, footfall, occupancy) with an automated scheduling optimization layer and "Raffy," a natural-language AI assistant for managers and employees. In 2025-2026 the company expanded its AI surface with agentic AI capabilities for regulated care settings (June 2025) and Sona Forge, a generative-AI application builder launched alongside the Series B in April 2026. The AI stack sits on top of third-party foundation models — OpenAI, Anthropic, and ElevenLabs are disclosed as sub-processors — beneath Sona's proprietary orchestration and domain-specific configuration. The company also acquired Yapster in January 2023, integrating frontline communications and engagement into the platform.
Sona operates an enterprise SaaS go-to-market with multi-year contracts typical of mid-market and enterprise WFM deployments. The company is UK-centric in revenue but is actively expanding into the US with offices in New York and Austin opened around April 2026. The company has raised over $100M across four rounds — most recently a $45M Series B led by N47 in April 2026, following a £22M (~$27.5M) Series A in mid-2024 led by Felicis, plus prior backing from Speedinvest and Gradient Ventures. Sona employs 101-250 people across London, New York, Austin, and Lisbon.
Sona firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sona
- Legal name
- Sona Technologies Ltd
- Website
- https://sona.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Sona is an AI workforce management platform for multi-site frontline operators in hospitality, hotels, social care, retail, and logistics, combining forecasting, scheduling, HR, payroll, ATS, LMS, and an AI assistant in one system.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sona industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Workforce Management Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- AI Integration & Orchestration Platforms (Connectors, Workflow, iPaaS for AI) (HDAEANAI), Human Capital Management (HCM) & Payroll Platforms (HDAEAEAJ), AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)
Keywords
Where Sona is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Sona business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Enterprise SaaS subscription: Recurring subscription revenue from large frontline organisations using Sona's workforce management platform (Forecasting, Scheduling, HR, Payroll, Reporting, Integrations, Employee App). Pricing is not publicly disclosed; customers book a demo for a tailored quote. Modules can be added incrementally (ATS, LMS, Forge) creating land-and-expand dynamics.
- Implementation and onboarding services: Expert-led implementation services included in onboarding, with the about page stating 'Go live in weeks, not months with a dedicated expert-led implementation team.' Likely bundled or priced as professional services alongside the subscription.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Quote-based enterprise subscription (not publicly disclosed) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Sona product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sona provides an AI-powered workforce management platform for large multi-site frontline organisations, sold as enterprise SaaS on a quote-based subscription. The unified platform combines AI labour-demand forecasting, autonomous scheduling, HR, payroll, reporting, a frontline employee app, the Raffy AI assistant, and the Sona Forge no-code AI app builder, with vertical workflows for hospitality, hotels, social care, retail, and logistics. Revenue is generated through multi-year subscription contracts (with land-and-expand modules) plus bundled expert-led implementation services.
Product overview
Sona is a single unified AI workforce management platform for large frontline organisations, organised as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The Sona core platform brings together Forecasting, Scheduling, HR, Payroll, Reporting, Integrations, and the Employee App into one connected system, replacing fragmented legacy workforce systems. Raffy AI Assistant sits inside the platform as the in-product AI copilot that explains what is happening, what to do, and can take approved actions. Sona Forge is an enterprise AI application builder on top of the platform that lets non-technical users build tools, automations, and agents from natural language using live Sona data. Two further modules — Sona ATS for frontline hiring and Sona LMS for compliance training — extend the platform into the full hire-to-retire lifecycle. Industry-specific solutions (Hospitality, Hotels, Care, Retail, Logistics) are configured on top of this same product set.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Sona Forge: Enterprise AI application builder that allows customers to build custom tools, apps, automations, and AI agents connected to live Sona data (in beta as of the source).
- Raffy AI Assistant
Products and services
- Sona Platform (AI Workforce Management) Unified AI workforce management platform for large frontline organisations, providing AI-driven decision-making across scheduling, HR, payroll, and engagement, replacing fragmented legacy systems with one connected source of truth.
- Sona Forecasting AI-powered labour demand forecasting module that uses real-time operational data to model demand, run what-if scenarios, benchmark sites, project costs, and flag anomalies, powering demand planning and labour optimisation.
- Sona Scheduling Autonomous scheduling engine that evaluates millions of staffing combinations, balancing skills, preferences, compliance rules, and budget constraints, with geofenced time tracking, budget controls, and cross-location shift management.
- Sona HR Core HR module built for frontline teams: unified employee records, document storage, absence and leave management, multi-step automated workflows, and AI decision support for approvals and people decisions.
- Sona Payroll AI-powered payroll module that combines HR, scheduling, and time tracking inputs to calculate pay across complex contracts, handle exceptions, explain payslips to employees, and reconcile against actuals for export.
- Raffy AI Assistant
- Sona ATS
- Sona LMS
- Sona Reporting
- Sona Employee App
- Sona Forge
- Sona Integrations (50+ connectors and REST API)
- Agentic AI for Care
- Sona Comms
Quantifiable outcome
- 1-2% labour cost reduction in the first month for typical customers
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Sona
Customer profileNamed customers41 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Sona technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration65 records
AI capability14 records
Feature9 records
Sona partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.
- YapstercoreFrontline communications platform acquired by Sona in January 2023 to enhance the expansion of its Frontline Operating System. Yapster is used by notable companies across social care, hospitality, retail, and logistics. The acquisition accelerates development and deployment of consumer-grade solutions with AI capabilities.
- TenzocorePOS integration partner; Sona announced an integrated partnership with Tenzo in May 2025. Tenzo listed in Sona's official 50+ integrations marketplace.
- PineapplecorePartnership announced July 2025. Co-founders of Pineapple joined a Sona-hosted panel session with Flat Iron's Head of People and Sona's VP of Hospitality to discuss hospitality workforce findings.
- Dovehaven Care HomesminorNew partnership announced in June 2025 to deploy Sona in Dovehaven Care Homes' care operations.
- Talos360minorATS integration partner and co-marketing webinar partner; listed in Sona's 50+ integrations marketplace.
- StreamcoreEarned Wage Access integration partner; listed in Sona's 50+ integrations marketplace and as a Sona sub-processor for app functionality.
- Fieldfisher LawcoreCo-marketing webinar partner; Sona launched a webinar series with leading UK law firm Fieldfisher to explore the impact of (mis)handling TRONC in hospitality.
- KAM (Kam Hospitality)coreCo-marketing webinar partner; hosted by Paul Watson (VP Hospitality, Sona) discussing KAM's People & Productivity Insights research with industry experts.
- Care EnglandcoreCo-marketing webinar partner in the social care sector (Care England webinar on workforce pressure and how providers can respond).
- HOSPAcoreCo-marketing partner; Sona participated in HOSPA Digital Roundtable on how AI-native tech is reshaping the hotel workforce.
- WahacaflagshipUK-based Mexican restaurant group that signed on in May 2026 to deploy Sona's AI-powered forecasting and scheduling technology across its restaurant estate.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreSub-processor providing data hosting in the EEA for Sona's platform.
- OpenAIcoreSub-processor; AI tool used for automating business processes.
- AnthropiccoreSub-processor; AI tool used by Sona.
- HubSpotcoreSub-processor; CRM provider used by Sona for marketing, sales, and customer engagement.
- Google Cloud PlatformcoreSub-processor; provides app infrastructure with UK data storage.
- ShapecoreSub-processor; UK-based payroll software provider integrated with Sona.
- WagestreamcoreEWA integration partner; Liaise case study notes Sona integration with Wagestream to give the workforce real-time access to their salary.
Scale indicators15 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Sona competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Deputy: Deputy is a workforce management and employee scheduling platform purpose-built for hourly and shift-based workforces, with scheduling, time tracking, and AI demand forecasting. Directly comparable to Sona across the same core use cases of frontline scheduling, HR, and shift management.
- 7shifts: 7shifts is an AI-native employee scheduling and workforce management platform focused on the restaurant industry, with demand forecasting, tip management, and team communication. Closely comparable to Sona's hospitality segment in target market, product, and AI-forward positioning.
- Rotageek: Rotageek is an AI-powered workforce scheduling and demand forecasting platform for retail, hospitality, and healthcare, comparable to Sona in target verticals (retail, hospitality, care), AI-led scheduling approach, and UK enterprise customer base.
- HotSchedules (Fourth): HotSchedules, now part of Fourth, is a workforce management and scheduling platform purpose-built for restaurants and hospitality operators. Directly comparable to Sona's hospitality vertical on scheduling, forecasting, and multi-site restaurant operations.
- Planday: Planday (owned by Xero) is a workforce management platform offering scheduling, time tracking, HR, and payroll for shift-based businesses in hospitality, retail, and healthcare. Comparable to Sona on platform breadth, shift-worker target, and European/UK enterprise go-to-market.
- Person Centred Software: Person Centred Software is a UK social care technology provider offering care planning, medication, and workforce/rota functionality to care homes and domiciliary providers. Directly comparable to Sona in UK social care customer base, regulatory complexity (CQC), and people-centred rostering.
- Crunchtime: Crunchtime provides restaurant operations software including inventory, food cost, and labor/scheduling management to restaurant operators. Comparable to Sona on the restaurant-vertical scheduling, labor cost optimization, and enterprise hospitality go-to-market.
- When I Work: When I Work is a shift-based workforce management platform offering scheduling, time tracking, and team messaging, primarily to SMB and mid-market hourly employers. Comparable to Sona on scheduling and shift-worker product, though skewing smaller and US-centric.
Broad incumbents
- Workforce Software (UKG): Workforce Software (now part of UKG) is an enterprise workforce management suite covering scheduling, time and attendance, and labour analytics for large enterprises. A broad incumbent alternative to Sona for large multi-site frontline operators.
- UKG (Kronos): UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) is one of the largest workforce management and HCM incumbents globally, serving enterprise customers across industries. Comparable to Sona in the enterprise WFM category it competes against, though UKG is a much broader HCM portfolio player rather than a frontline-AI specialist.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sona social profiles
Digital presenceSona compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Sona financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sona leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Sona subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Sona funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors12 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sona M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sona
What does Sona do?
Sona provides an AI-powered workforce management platform for large multi-site frontline organisations, sold as enterprise SaaS on a quote-based subscription. The unified platform combines AI labour-demand forecasting, autonomous scheduling, HR, payroll, reporting, a frontline employee app, the Raffy AI assistant, and the Sona Forge no-code AI app builder, with vertical workflows for hospitality, hotels, social care, retail, and logistics. Revenue is generated through multi-year subscription contracts (with land-and-expand modules) plus bundled expert-led implementation services.
Is Sona a public or private company?
Sona is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Sona founded?
Sona was founded in 2021. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Sona based?
Sona is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Sona make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Enterprise SaaS subscription is the primary driver. The others are implementation and onboarding services.
Who are Sona's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Deputy, 7shifts, Rotageek, HotSchedules (Fourth), Planday, Person Centred Software, Crunchtime and When I Work. Broad incumbents are Workforce Software (UKG) and UKG (Kronos).
Does Sona have an API?
Yes. Sona offers a REST API for building bespoke integrations. The API supports custom field mappings, configurable endpoints, and live two-way data flows. Documented base URL pattern is api.client.com/v2 with AUTH_TOKEN authentication and a rate limit of 1,000 requests per minute. Used to extend Sona's pre-built 95+ system connectors with custom integrations to any system. Developer documentation is at www.sona.ai/integrations.
What industry is Sona in?
Sona's product category is Workforce Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEANAA, End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management), with a secondary code of HDAEANAI, AI Integration & Orchestration Platforms (Connectors, Workflow, iPaaS for AI). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.