rankacy: Building an AI Powerhouse with Manatal

Introduction

Rankacy is a high-growth scale-up operating at the intersection of AI and gaming. Their core product, an advanced highlight generator for Counter-Strike players, relies on a proprietary chatbot model trained on massive datasets. To maintain their position at the technical frontier, rankacy focuses on identifying and securing top-tier PhD researchers and machine learning engineers who are equipped to solve complex problems at the cutting edge of data science.

The Challenge: Expanding Beyond the Academic Network

In its early stages, rankacy’s founders were highly successful in hiring exceptional talent through a direct approach, primarily leveraging their deep academic and university networks. However, as the company’s technical requirements became more sophisticated, this specific pool of talent reached its natural limit. To continue attracting the strongest technical minds, the company needed to evolve its approach.

Michal Fogelton joined rankacy to bridge this gap, tasked with mapping the potential market beyond the founders' immediate circles. The primary hurdle was the shift from leveraging personal academic connections to a proactive, high-level executive search model. The goal was to build a mature recruitment function that could identify "hidden" talent across the globe and maintain the high professional standards the company had already established.

The Solution: A Precision Tool for Executive Search

Michal recognized that moving beyond a direct academic network required a platform that could act as a strategic hub for market mapping. He chose Manatal for its unique blend of flexibility and powerful integration capabilities. By utilizing the platform’s extensive customization options, Michal was able to tailor candidate profiles and job fields to match rankacy’s specific deep-tech requirements.

To effectively map the broader market, Michal integrated the Manatal LinkedIn and GitHub extension into his daily workflow. This allowed him to instantly capture elite talent during the discovery phase and track every interaction with precision. Furthermore, to maintain a consistent brand experience, rankacy leveraged Manatal’s API to link their bespoke career page directly to the ATS. This ensured that while candidates enjoyed a custom user experience, their data flowed seamlessly into a centralized, manageable pipeline.

The Results: Professionalizing the Path to Growth

The implementation of Manatal has fundamentally transformed how rankacy interacts with the talent market. The company has moved away from fragmented tracking toward a unified talent intelligence system where every conversation and candidate stage is documented. This level of organization has been crucial in persuading highly specialized talent to join a growing mission.

By automating administrative tasks and centralizing communication, Michal has successfully established a mature recruitment engine that complements the founders' original direct approach with a scalable search process. The collaboration with hiring managers has also seen a significant upgrade; through dedicated guest access, technical leads can now provide instant feedback and maintain alignment on niche roles without the friction of traditional email chains. This professionalized environment not only improves internal efficiency but significantly enhances the candidate experience.

The Future

As rankacy continues to push the boundaries of gaming AI and data infrastructure, Manatal remains the backbone of its talent strategy. The team is currently looking toward deeper email integration and advanced custom reporting to further refine their data-driven approach to talent acquisition, ensuring they remain prepared for the next phase of their growth.