Sherpa, an AI operating system for external workforce management, has raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round co-led by Seedcamp, DN Capital, Activant Capital, and Brighteye, alongside multiple operator angels. The Germany-based startup is targeting a category that represents 30-50% of enterprise labor and more than $6.8 trillion in annual global spending, yet remains stuck on legacy Vendor Management Systems (VMS) and Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
Founded by Tristan Deschler (CEO), Tim Altpeter (COO), and Max Lang (CTO), Sherpa brings the entire lifecycle of external work-from request to payment-into a single platform. Deschler previously helped scale procurement technology company Fairmarkit from $1 million to tens of millions in revenue as one of its first 10 hires. The company is already running design partnerships and pilot programs with Fortune 500 enterprises across the EU, UK, and US in pharmaceuticals, industrials, SaaS, and marketplaces.
A platform built for humans and AI agents
Sherpa was built from day one for a world where humans and AI agents work side by side. While most organizations still rely on fragmented legacy systems that are expensive to maintain and slow to deploy, Sherpa provides the secure infrastructure to manage both human and AI-driven work through a unified operating model. Data stays private, sovereign, and fully under the organization's control.
As enterprises integrate AI agents into their operations, they face many of the same challenges associated with external workforce management-onboarding, compliance, performance management, and oversight. Sherpa enables enterprises and MSPs to move beyond administrative processes toward intelligent workforce orchestration. For enterprises, the shift toward orchestrating both human and AI workers highlights the growing importance of AI for Human Resources.
Tristan Deschler, Founder and CEO of Sherpa, said: "The future workforce won't just be human. It will be a dynamic mix of employees, contractors, service providers, and AI agents working together. The challenge is that the systems enterprises rely on today were never designed to manage that complexity. There is a huge demand for a single platform where all work can be requested, governed, delivered, and measured, regardless of whether it's performed by a person or an AI agent. We believe workforce management is evolving into work orchestration, and Sherpa is leading the infrastructure to power that transition."
Funding priorities
The new capital will expand enterprise deployments and deepen integrations across VMS, orchestration platforms, HRIS, ERP, and ATS systems. Sherpa also plans to support compliance readiness, including SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certification.
Why this matters for management
External workforce spend is massive and growing, but the tools to manage it have not kept pace. Sherpa's approach signals that workforce management is becoming work orchestration-a blend of human talent and AI agents that demands a single, secure system of record. This evolution aligns with broader trends in AI for Management, where platforms are designed to handle complex, mixed workforces. For managers, the shift means that oversight of blended teams will require new infrastructure, and early adopters may gain efficiency and compliance advantages as the model matures.
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