ConverzAI Secures $16 Million in Funding
February 12, 2025 – ConverzAI, which provides an AI-powered virtual recruiter for recruiting firms, has secured a $16 million Series A funding round to accelerate product innovation and expand go-to-market strategy. The round was led by Menlo Ventures, and joined by Left Lane Capital. Seed investors Foundation Capital and Afore Capital participated in the round as well. “ConverzAI’s solution is in a sweet spot, at the intersection of agentic AI, voice AI and recruiting,” said Venky Ganesan, Partner at Menlo Ventures. “Other platforms have attempted to solve a slice of the recruiting process, but what Ashwarya and his team are doing automates the entire process while still focusing on the candidate. Menlo Ventures is all in on AI and this investment is a perfect embodiment of that.”
ConverzAI’s platform deploys virtual recruiters that handle the entire recruitment pipeline—from initial candidate sourcing through final placement—using generative AI technology and agent AI principles. The platform’s virtual recruiters conduct natural conversations over voice, text and email with candidates, analyze responses in real-time, and enable data-driven decisions throughout the recruitment process. They have processed over 100,000 jobs, engaged millions of candidates and delivered tens of thousands of placements for their customers.
“I founded ConverzAI to create transformational value for organizations by automating and optimizing the recruitment process,” said Ashwarya Poddar, founder and CEO at ConverzAI. “We believe conducting entire business conversations through AI technology is simply game-changing. My team and I are committed to advancing agentic AI and voice AI solutions and are fast becoming an essential recruiting arm for our staffing customers. Menlo Ventures’ alignment with our vision to transform the recruiting and staffing industry is greatly appreciated and incredibly exciting.”
“In today’s competitive talent landscape, ConverzAI’s virtual recruiter has become an integral part of our recruitment strategy,” said Rob Lowry, chief talent strategy officer at Apex Systems. “Their platform has accelerated our recruitment process at speed and scale and significantly improved the quality of information on our candidate pipeline. The virtual recruiter has had conversations with over 250,000 candidates, consistently delivering placements and achieving a candidate satisfaction score exceeding 80%. The AI recruiter handles routine tasks with unparalleled speed and efficiency, allowing our human recruiters to focus on relationship-building and complex decision-making.”
“ConverzAI’s AI-powered virtual recruiters are setting a new standard for innovation in staffing,” said Richard Wahlquist, CEO of the American Staffing Association. “The platform’s ability to deliver superior results for staffing industry customers drives meaningful impact for businesses and candidates alike. ConverzAI’s advanced AI solution, is a good example of ASA’s commitment to helping our industry understand and leverage leading edge technology solutions.”
Looking ahead, ConverzAI aims to increase its workforce and expand internationally by the end of the year. The new funding will be utilized to drive innovation, and enhancing its go-to-market strategy.
Investment Funding
Investors are pouring money into recruiting solutions businesses, especially executive search firms. Here’s a look at some other recent funding deals secured by these companies from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
Specialist recruitment company Metric Search has secured a multi-million-pound investment from BGF, one of the largest growth capital investors in the U.K. and Ireland. “Metric has achieved remarkable success in a short amount of time, and is well placed to capitalize on the dynamic, growing U.S. recruitment market through its high quality, specialist service,” said BGF investor Adam Huckerby, who will join the Metric board. “This is a great example of how BGF can support ambitious, high performing teams to fulfil their plans. We look forward to working with Joe and the team with the next phase of accelerated growth.” Founded in 2019 by Joe Jani (CEO) in New York, Metric Search has built a reputation as a search partner, sourcing skilled, technical talent in the life sciences and energy/infrastructure sectors. With its headquarters in Nottingham, the firm has offices in New York, London, and Florida.
ZRG, a global talent advisory firm and portfolio company of RFE Investment Partners, has secured $120 million in debt financing from Main Street Capital Corporation and its affiliates. “This significant funding will bolster ZRG’s growth initiatives and enhance its ability to deliver innovative talent solutions to clients worldwide,” the firm said. “It is a great time to acquire niche talent advisory and management businesses and build out our capabilities across executive search, interim, RPO, and consulting,” said Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG. “This additional financing from Main Street Capital, combined with our recent equity raise with a consortium of investors, positions us strongly to achieve our strategic objectives.” This latest round of financing will play a crucial role in supporting ZRG’s ongoing growth strategy. The firm plans to use the capital to continue acquiring high-quality businesses that complement its existing capabilities and continue to hire senior talent to drive further growth.
Fort Lee, NJ-based Stevenson Search Partners, a global life science executive search firm and a Hunt Scanlon Top 50 ranked search firm, has received a significant long-term investment from SixSibs Capital, a Milwaukee-based family-owned private investment company, in an effort to advance its expansion into a total talent solution company for the global life sciences market. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. “Stevenson’s long-term focus on quality, culture, diversity and partnership has been our driving force in providing leading-edge talent and services to our partners across the globe,” said Adam Bloom, president of Stevenson Search Partners. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to build on our foundation and grow our business with the support and collaboration of SixSibs Capital. Our ability to scale our capabilities is an important next step in our commitment to supporting the remarkable life science professionals who are dedicated to advancing medicines and improving lives.”
Related: Bullhorn Ventures Makes Investment in Staffing Engine
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
