HR tech startup that automates hiring emerges from stealth mode

The hiring process can be frustrating for job seekers and companies alike. Year after year, universities churn out hundreds of thousands of young talent, and a seemingly infinite amount of professionals strive to find better opportunities at other companies.

This process can also be lengthy, with a position taking an average of 36 days to fill. Recruiters carry this burden, with many of them going through hundreds of applications to look for the 10 or so candidates that are actually qualified.

“We understand the challenges of a recruiter through first-hand experience,” Achuthanand Ravi, co-founder and CEO at recruitment automation startup Kula, tells Tech in Asia.

The San Francisco-based company, which has emerged from stealth mode, has just raised US$2.7 million in a pre-seed round from Venture Highway, Together Fund, and Global Founders Capital to help employers hire more candidates.

(From left) Kula founders Suman Kumar Dey, Achuthanand Tanjore Ravi, and Sathappan Muthupalaniappan / Photo credit: Kula

Right tools for the job

According to Ravi, the idea behind Kula hit him during his time at Stripe, where he served on the payments major’s global executive search team.

The founder tells Tech in Asia that while on the hunt for leadership-level talent, he and his team were in constant search for a tool that could help them solve all the operational parts of the talent engagement process.

“Our requirement wasn’t outlandish – we just wanted a tool that can send cold emails, automate follow-ups, and keep the passive talent engaged. Marketing and sales teams have had tools like these for decades,” he adds.

After evaluating dozens of products and not finding software that suited his needs, Ravi knew he had to build one himself.

Photo credit: Kula

Now with Kula, Ravi looks to build a streamlined and transparent recruitment automation platform for those that deal with a company’s recruitment process. The startup’s solution brings together all job seeker sources and automates recruitment.

With the platform, recruiters can focus more on the candidates that are best suited for certain positions and send out automated follow-ups through several channels.

Kula is planning for an alpha release of its platform in February this year. For the pilot program, it has also handpicked customers across different business stages and geographies to better understand their specific needs, says Ravi.

“From Southeast Asia, we have Gojek and Open Government Products SG, and Wise is also a part of our pilot program,” he adds. Companies like ShareChat and Meesho are also part of this lineup, according to Kula’s website.

Recruiting the heavyweights

Knowing the names behind Kula, it isn’t a surprise that the company has already roped in these major companies as initial clients.

Joining Ravi are his co-founders Suman Kumar Dey, a former tech lead at Freshworks and software engineer for Grab, and Sathappan Muthupalaniappan, who previously served as a software engineer manager for both Grab and ShopBack.

The three currently helm a founding team of eight people, which includes engineers, designers, marketers, and a recruiter in Ravi. The company aims to expand this number to at least 28 by the next six months, the CEO says.

By expanding its team, Kula looks to build a tech stack that can serve as an operating system for the recruitment needs of its pilot customers.

“We would then take the product to all customers and get as much usage and feedback from the recruitment fraternity,” he adds. “We also want to grow the team steadily and be ready for the phase when we hit hypergrowth.”

To help with this, Ravi said that Kula would be open to raising additional capital. “We haven’t decided on the fine prints yet, but there are some advanced conversations with some of our wishlist funds.”