Former Swiggy and Zomato executives have raised $1.5 million in seed funding for their new AI startup, Profound. The company is developing an AI representative designed to help professionals find career opportunities and build networks. The capital will be used to grow engineering and product teams ahead of a planned global rollout for one million users.
Anuj Rathi, a former senior executive at Swiggy, and Prashant Parashar, formerly of Zomato, have officially launched their artificial intelligence venture, Profound. The startup announced on Monday that it has secured $1.5 million in a seed funding round. The investment highlights continued interest from established tech entrepreneurs in AI-based solutions for the labor market.
AI-Powered Career Representation
Profound is building an AI-powered representative, or AI Rep, which aims to act as a personal agent for professionals. The system is designed to learn a user's career history, skills, and future goals through voice-based interactions. By capturing this context, the AI identifies potential career opportunities and facilitates professional connections. The founders aim to replicate the agency model commonly used in sports and entertainment, but for general professional talent.
Backing From Tech Industry Leaders
The funding round attracted participation from several prominent figures in the Indian startup ecosystem. Key investors include Swiggy co-founders Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy, Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah, and Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur. Other notable investors include Kunal Shah, an executive at WhatsApp, and Bhuvan Gupta, co-founder of OfBusiness. Institutional backing was provided by Stellaris Venture Partners and 3one4 Capital.
Product Development and Hiring Features
Profound plans to direct these funds toward expanding its engineering and product teams. A primary goal is to enhance the AI's core capabilities, specifically its reasoning engine that translates voice conversations into actionable career insights.
Beyond individual users, the startup is also developing features for hiring managers. This service allows companies to create AI Reps for specific job roles to better match candidates based on context rather than relying solely on traditional, static resumes. The company aims to onboard one million professionals globally over the next year.
Investor Perspective on Talent Discovery
Investors backing the startup have pointed to the persistent inefficiency in how talent is discovered and matched with opportunities. By utilizing a voice-first, AI-native approach, the founders are attempting to address the limitations of keyword-based search systems currently used in professional networking. The next phase for the company involves scaling its infrastructure and moving toward a broader beta rollout, which will provide further clarity on how effectively the tool can translate user context into successful professional introductions.