Even after reviewing résumés, cowl letters, and interviews, choosing the proper candidate for a job is usually a mysterious course of. Hiring managers usually depend on their biases in regards to the world or intestine emotions to tell their determination, making the method removed from an actual science.
That’s why Sarah Lucena constructed Mappa, an AI-powered behavioral intelligence platform that goals to take among the guesswork out of hiring. Mappa skilled an AI mannequin to detect voice patterns that correlate with sure traits, akin to communication fashion, empathy, and confidence. Candidates merely reply some questions from Mappa’s AI agent, after which the platform sends hiring managers a shortlist of candidates with traits which are appropriate with the function.
Mappa is a Startup Battlefield Prime 20 finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco.
“Mappa comes to the market with the goal of really, truly understanding people,” Lucena mentioned in an interview with TechCrunch. “We don’t really categorize traits as good or bad. We understand traits as compatible or not.”
Lucena based Mappa in 2023 along with her two co-founders, Pablo Bérgolo and Daniel Moretti, and has raised $3.4 million in a seed spherical led by Tim Draper’s funding agency, Draper Associates. In lower than three years, the startup has scaled to greater than 130 clients within the U.S. and greater than $4 million in annualized recurring income.
Mappa claims one in all its greatest benefits is information. The startup constructed extremely curated datasets particularly for understanding human habits. Mappa initially tried to evaluate candidates primarily based on video submissions and their on-line presence; nonetheless, they’ve discovered voice evaluation to be the best technique.
Mappa’s platform has already helped firms discover workers who stick round longer, based on Lucena. Whereas the usual annual turnover charge for firms is round 30%, she says workers employed by way of Mappa have a turnover charge of simply 2%.
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Lucena says Mappa’s focus is at all times serving to firms discover the most effective individuals, however that usually ends in a extra equitable hiring course of. Mappa has facilitated over 3,000 hires thus far, and greater than 60% of them had been girls, LGBTQ+, or immigrants. Lucena, who was born and raised in Brazil, says she’s proud to have created extra alternatives for these individuals.
Shifting ahead, Lucena says she sees Mappa evolving from a providers firm into an infrastructure supplier. The startup’s API has seen traction amongst firms who wish to use its behavioral evaluation in conditions past hiring. Tim Draper personally makes use of Mappa to evaluate founders his agency is contemplating investing in, and the academic platform Re-Skilling.ai makes use of the platform to grasp abilities that college students can enhance on.
Sooner or later, Lucena sees that Mappa could possibly be used to assist approve candidates for loans who don’t have an intensive credit score historical past. She sees Mappa as a instrument to assist assess individuals extra pretty in all types of settings.
If you wish to hear from Mappa firsthand, and see dozens of extra pitches, attend invaluable workshops, and make the connections that drive enterprise outcomes, head right here to study extra about this yr’s Disrupt, held October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.
