Job seekers should prepare for more AI-driven screening interviews as recruiters increasingly outsource initial candidate assessments to artificial intelligence.
Alex, a startup building an AI recruiter, announced a $17 million Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, Uncorrelated Ventures, and several Fortune 500 chief human resources officers. The raise follows a $3 million seed round led by 1984 Ventures last year.
Co-founded by Aaron Wang, a former Facebook employee and hedge fund quant, Alex’s platform uses a voice AI tool to conduct autonomous video and phone interviews with applicants shortly after they apply. The tool screens for factors such as work history, salary expectations, and availability.
“Our AI recruiter does thousands of interviews a day and helps people get hired at some of the biggest companies in the world,” Wang said, though he declined to name customers. He noted that clients include Fortune 100 companies, financial institutions, nationwide restaurant chains, and Big 4 accounting firms.
Alex enters a growing market of AI recruiting startups, competing with players like HeyMilo, ConverzAI, and Ribbon. The company’s long-term vision is to build a database of professional profiles richer than LinkedIn’s by capturing insights from millions of AI-led conversations. “A 10-minute conversation with you tells me a whole lot more about you than your LinkedIn profile does,” Wang said.
For now, Alex is positioning itself as a time-saver for recruiters, automating repetitive screening tasks so hiring managers can focus on building relationships with pre-qualified candidates.
Related: DeepSeek Unveils V3.2-exp Model with Sparse Attention to Cut AI Inference Costs
The rise of AI in recruiting is drawing investor interest as companies face mounting hiring challenges. Mercor, now pursuing funding at a $10 billion valuation, also started out as an AI recruiter before pivoting into AI data labeling.
With fresh capital, Alex plans to scale its reach and cement its role in reshaping how job applicants and employers connect.
