What Zeren does

Zeren is a privately held executive search and recruitment firm founded in 2018 and headquartered in London, operating as a brand within the Renovata & Company global talent platform. The firm is organised by functional specialism (Commercial, Technology, Operations) and sector vertical (FinTech, Climate Tech, DeepTech & AI, B2B SaaS, HealthTech, EdTech, Cyber Security, among others), serving VC-backed, PE-owned and listed corporate technology businesses across the UK, US, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Its core offering comprises Leadership Search (single senior executive hires) and Team Hiring (multi-hire project recruitment), supplemented by embedded and interim talent placement through sister brand Renoir, a candidate-facing Live Jobs portal and a Candidate Registration intake form.

The firm runs a 'truly data-led' search methodology using market mapping, research tooling and a dedicated in-house Research team, and operates from six principal offices in London, New York, Paris, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Berlin with referenced hubs in Frankfurt and Houston. Zeren generates revenue through retained and contingency professional-services fees on executive placements and team-hiring projects, with no public pricing disclosed. Customer concentration spans a broad logo set of venture capital firms (Sequoia, Atomico, General Catalyst, Lakestar, Albion VC, Atlantic Labs), private equity firms (Nordic Capital, Silver Lake, Summit Partners, LDC, FPE Capital) and large corporates (BCG, CBRE, National Grid, Liberty Global, News UK), as well as growth-stage tech businesses (Soldo, Akeneo, Healx, TestGorilla, LoyaltyLion, StudySmarter).

Governance sits with a board that includes Renovata & Company co-founders Thomas Jepsen and Mannie Gill as Non-Executive Directors, Chairman Tony Vardy (formerly of Korn Ferry and Spencer Stuart), and Mark Brewer (founder of SR Group). Day-to-day leadership is held by CEO Chris Preston (also CEO of Renoir) and CFO Hetal Panchal, supported by Managing Director Harry Lewis and a bench of functional and sector directors. The website tracks 189 placements and 113 published insights, and the firm describes itself as 'growing quickly,' though revenue, headcount and ownership structure are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Zeren

Legal name

Zeren

Website

https://zerenglobal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Zeren is a London-headquartered executive search and recruitment firm founded in 2018, operating globally as part of the Renovata & Company talent platform. It provides leadership search, team hiring, and embedded/interim talent services to VC-backed, PE-owned and listed technology businesses across the UK, US, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Board Search (BPACAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Technology & Product Leadership Search (CIO/CTO/CDO/CPO) (BPACAAAC)

Keywords

• Executive search
• Leadership search
• Team hiring
• Talent acquisition
• Recruitment services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Executive Search / Leadership Search fees: Retained or contingency search fees for placing senior leaders (CEO, VP, C-suite, Director-level) across Commercial, Technology, Data, Operations functions for VC, growth, PE and corporate clients. Individual contributor through to VP-level candidates.
2. Team Hiring / Project Recruitment fees: Multi-hire recruitment project fees for building commercial, technology and operational teams; built on pace, accuracy and trust at scale.
3. Interim and Embedded Talent placements: Interim C-level and embedded talent placements (delivered via Renovata platform sister brands including Renoir), supporting transformation, change and growth mandates.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Zeren is a professional services firm that delivers executive search and team hiring services for high-growth technology businesses. Its core offerings are Leadership Search (single senior executive hires such as CEO, VP, C-suite and Director-level roles across Commercial, Technology, Data and Operations functions) and Team Hiring (multi-hire project recruitment to build entire functional teams). The firm operates a data-led methodology with consultants organised by functional specialism and supported by dedicated research staff.

Product overview

Zeren is a recruitment services firm (not a unified SaaS product) whose offering is structured around two primary service lines — Leadership Search (executive search for senior leaders) and Team Hiring (multi-hire project recruitment) — supported by a Live Jobs candidate-facing job board, a Candidate Registration intake form, and a Zeren Careers portal for internal hiring. Together these services sit inside the wider Renovata & Company talent platform, alongside Renovata, Cribb, Segalen Associes and Renoir. Functional specialisms span Commercial (Sales, Marketing, Growth), Technology (Product, Engineering, Data) and Operations (Finance, HR, Strategy), and sector expertise covers Healthcare & BioTech, FoodTech & AgriTech, Climate Tech, DeepTech & AI, FinTech & Payments, MarTech & AdTech, B2B SaaS, eCommerce/Marketplaces/Apps, Cyber Security and EdTech & Gaming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Leadership Search Executive search service focused on identifying and appointing senior leaders (CEO, VP, CTO, CFO, COO, Head of functions) for high-growth technology businesses. Operates a data-led approach with regional hubs in Houston, New York, London, Frankfurt and Berlin, targeting CEO, VP, C-suite and Director-level hires across Commercial, Technology, Data and Operations functions for VC, growth, PE and corporate clients.
• Team Hiring Multi-hire recruitment project service that partners with clients to build functional teams from individual contributors to first-line management across commercial, technology and operational functions. Regional hubs in New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin; built on pace, accuracy and trust at scale.
• Live Jobs Online job-listing portal that allows candidates to search current vacancies across location, function, level and salary range, with filters to narrow searches. Backed by a Candidate Registration sign-up flow for future roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• 189 Placements tracked on News & Insights feed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments13 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Renovata & CompanyflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerZeren is part of Renovata & Company, a global talent platform delivering transformational leadership for private capital-backed and corporate organisations. Co-branded in site header and on About page; cross-referral and shared services.
• RenovatacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister brand within the Renovata & Company platform. Cross-promoted via About page and shared platform navigation.
• CribbcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister brand within the Renovata & Company platform. Cross-promoted via About page navigation linking to en.cribb.de.
• Segalen AssociescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister brand within the Renovata & Company platform. Cross-promoted via About page navigation linking to segalen-associes.com.
• RenoircoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister brand within the Renovata & Company platform; CEO Chris Preston is also CEO of Renoir. Cross-promoted via About page and linked renoirinterim.com.
• Disability Confident (UK Government)minorOthersZeren displays the UK Government Disability Confident employer badge in its site footer, indicating registration under the campaign.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cobalt Recruitment: Specialist international recruitment firm focused on real estate, construction, property, and technology sectors. Comparable in boutique scale and specialism-driven model, with overlap on the tech/PE mandate mix Zeren serves.
• Talentful: Tech-focused executive search and embedded talent firm serving VC-backed and growth-stage businesses. Direct comparable to Zeren on the Team Hiring / embedded recruitment model, with a similar focus on building GTM, product, and engineering functions for high-growth tech companies.
• Riviera Partners: Boutique executive search firm focused on Go-to-Market, Product, Engineering, and Data leadership for VC-backed technology companies. Direct comparable to Zeren in both functional specialism and target client base (VC and growth-stage tech businesses), with similar fee-based retained search model.
• Odgers Berndtson: Mid-market global executive search firm with strong tech and PE coverage. Closely comparable to Zeren in size, mid-market positioning, and sector focus on growth-stage and PE-backed businesses, particularly in Europe and North America.
• Stott and May: Specialist technology and digital transformation recruitment firm. Direct comparable to Zeren in the tech-focused search and team hiring model, with overlap on data, product, and engineering mandates for VC- and PE-backed businesses.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organisational consulting firm with one of the world's largest executive search practices. Chairman Tony Vardy's prior senior leadership at Korn Ferry is a direct lineage point. Zeren competes with Korn Ferry for senior mandates at tech scale-ups and public companies, but at a different scale and breadth.
• Egon Zehnder: Global leadership advisory firm with strong presence in technology and PE-backed mandates. Competes with Zeren on senior leadership searches for tech companies, but with significantly broader geographic coverage (including APAC) and deeper board practice.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search and board advisory firm with a strong technology practice. Like Korn Ferry, it overlaps with Zeren on tech CEO and board mandates, but at substantially larger scale. Tony Vardy's prior leadership at Spencer Stuart is a direct connection to the incumbent landscape Zeren is positioned against.
• Renovata: Parent platform brand within Renovata & Company, focused on executive search for PE-backed and corporate clients. Sister brand to Zeren under the same parent platform, sharing board governance, marketing, and cross-referral infrastructure; comparable in business model but with a more corporate/PE tilt vs. Zeren's tech-VC focus.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm. Competes with Zeren on senior mandates for VC- and PE-backed tech clients, but operates at vastly greater scale with full global coverage and a broader functional and sector mix. Represents the scale ceiling Zeren would need to break through to win the largest mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zeren-search

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zeren