Jo Wilkinson

I joined Fortino Capital in 2021 to build the Fortino Talent Acquisition team with early-stage founders in mind — helping them go from “we need to hire” to a repeatable, scalable way of building great teams.

In 2022, the team grew with Jo Altman, and together we’ve supported Fortino founders through 240+ hires across the VC and PE portfolios. We work hands-on with companies from their very first hires through to growth and scale. I’ve personally partnered with 21 portfolio companies and directly placed around 150 of those hires. 

Our role goes far beyond execution. We help founders build hiring processes from scratch, define and sharpen their voice as an employer, implement the right recruitment tech, and then do the hiring — all with open, honest communication and a high-trust partnership. By getting involved early, we enable companies to grow faster, hire better, and reduce reliance on agencies, delivering over €3 million in avoided recruitment fees to date. 

Before Fortino, I spent nearly three decades in recruitment across startups, scale-ups, and enterprise. I was also Captain of the Belgian Women’s Rugby Team — which probably explains my belief in teamwork, resilience, and straight talking! 

We work as an extension of the founding team — building the foundations that turn early hires into long-term growth.