Loka AI wins 2nd place in the BayStartUP competition

We are absolutely thrilled to have won second place at the Business Plan Competition Ideenreich 2025 organized by BayStartUP! 🎉🚀

As a young startup from Kirchberg im Wald, we had the opportunity to present our vision for the future of recruiting — first in front of a jury of entrepreneurs and investors, and later on stage in front of a live audience. And: We are proud to be among the top three startups in Lower Bavaria! This fills us with pride, gratitude, and even more motivation for the next steps ahead.

What makes Loka AI special?

The recruiting market is undergoing major changes. Especially in the field of executive search, recruitment firms often reach the limits of their internal candidate pools: inconsistent job titles, missing industry data, and inefficient search functions.

This is where Loka AI offers a groundbreaking solution: our local AI technology enables executive search firms to search their existing candidate pools efficiently, securely, and intelligently. We rely on AI models that run locally — meaning all data stays safely on the firm's own servers. 🛡️

Our software understands the language of recruiters: it matches job requirements written in natural language with CVs, enriches them with company and industry data, and saves up to 80% of the time during longlist creation.

Why this award means so much to us

Winning at the BayStartUP competition shows that our solution is not only technically innovative but also economically relevant. The competition has given us valuable visibility, contacts, and feedback — and has further strengthened our confidence that we are on the right path.

We sincerely thank the jury, BayStartUP, the Digitalization Founders Center Lower Bavaria (GZDN), as well as Bayern Kapital and LfA Förderbank Bayern for providing this fantastic platform.