Kairos Recruitment

What Kairos Recruitment does

Kairos Recruitment is a Melbourne-based boutique recruitment firm founded in 2023 by Megan Luttrell, focused exclusively on hiring for Australian startups and growth-stage businesses. The firm designs hiring processes, sources candidates, and conducts assessments that go beyond CV evaluation, integrating Taly psychometric profiling to evaluate how candidates think, communicate, and operate under pressure. Its primary customer segment is early-stage Australian startups at the 2-20 employee stage, typically raising seed to Series A rounds, where each hire represents 15-25% of the team and wrong-fit hires carry disproportionate risk.

The business operates a professional services model on retained or contingency recruitment fees with quote-based, non-public pricing. Distribution is direct, via discovery calls with the founder and referrals from the broader Aussie Founders Club (AFC) ecosystem — a community of 4,000+ founders, operators, and startup people across Australia that the founder built alongside Kairos. Around the core recruitment service, Kairos operates four ecosystem products: the AFC community itself, The Startup Shortlist weekly newsletter distributing curated startup roles, The Startup Stack partner directory for trusted startup suppliers, and the Signal insights publication covering Australian startup ecosystem trends.

The company has 1-10 employees, is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, and serves as a domestic-only operation across Australia. Its differentiation rests on ecosystem integration, founder-led delivery, and domain specialization in startup hiring dynamics rather than on any proprietary technology platform or AI capability.

Name

Kairos Recruitment

Legal name

Kairos

Website

https://kairosrecruitment.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kairos Recruitment is a Melbourne-based boutique recruitment firm, founded in 2023 by Megan Luttrell, that designs hiring processes and sources talent for Australian startups and growth-stage businesses, leveraging the founder's Aussie Founders Club community of 4,000+ ecosystem members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Board Search (BPACAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG)

Keywords

• Startup recruitment
• Executive search
• Talent acquisition
• Hiring process design
• Recruitment consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Recruitment/Executive Search Services: Kairos generates revenue through recruitment and executive search fees for placing talent in startups and growth-stage companies. As a boutique recruitment firm serving the Australian startup ecosystem, they likely operate on a retained or contingency fee basis typical of executive search firms.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kairos Recruitment is a Melbourne-based boutique recruitment firm founded by Megan Luttrell in 2023 that provides end-to-end hiring services for Australian startups and growth-stage businesses, including candidate sourcing, structured vetting, and tailored hiring process design. The firm supplements its recruitment work with Taly psychometric profiling and related startup-focused content resources.

Product overview

Kairos Recruitment operates as a specialized recruitment firm for startups and growth businesses in Australia, offering a suite of services and related products. The core offering is recruitment services for startups, complemented by ecosystem-related products: Aussie Founders Club (a community platform for founders and operators), The Startup Shortlist (a curated newsletter), The Startup Stack (a partner directory), and Signal (an insights publication). These products work together as an integrated ecosystem supporting startup hiring and talent development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aussie Founders Club (AFC): A community of 4,000+ founders, operators, and startup people across Australia, built alongside Kairos. Operates as a separate community platform.
• The Startup Shortlist

Products and services

• Startup Recruitment Services
• The Startup Shortlist
• The Startup Stack

Quantifiable outcome

• Hires that carry companies through to acquisition (Pathfindr case study)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• TalycoreTechnology or IntegrationTaly is used by Kairos as their psychometric profiling tool in the assessment phase of recruitment. The partnership enables Kairos to provide deep insights on candidate thinking styles, communication patterns, and performance under pressure - going beyond traditional CV evaluation. This tool is specifically mentioned as helping Kairos clients and new hires gain insights on role and company fit.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Peoplebank: Australian technology and digital recruitment firm placing candidates across IT, data, and engineering roles. Comparable in serving Australian employers with specialized talent needs, though Peoplebank operates at broader scale.
• Talent International: Australian-headquartered recruitment firm specializing in technology, digital, and government sectors. Comparable in its domestic Australian focus and specialized tech recruitment, with similar boutique positioning.
• Just Digital People: Australian boutique recruitment firm specializing in digital, marketing, and tech roles for growth-stage companies. Directly comparable to Kairos in its domestic focus, niche specialization, and startup-adjacent customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half Australia: Global staffing and recruitment firm with Australian operations focused on finance, technology, and administrative roles. Comparable as a competing Australian recruitment provider but at significantly larger scale across multiple segments.
• Michael Page Australia: Global recruitment firm with deep Australian operations across permanent placement and executive search. Overlaps with Kairos in serving professional hiring needs but covers all industries rather than specializing in startups.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with Australian presence serving senior leadership needs. Comparable in the executive search element of Kairos's offering but operates globally across all industries rather than exclusively in startups.
• Hays Australia: Global recruitment firm with a substantial Australian presence across multiple sectors including technology. Comparable in offering recruitment services to Australian employers but operates as a broad incumbent rather than a startup niche specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kairosrecruitmentau

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Kairos Recruitment