Mercor, the AI recruiting startup founded by three 21-year-old Thiel Fellows, has raised $100 million in a Series B round, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
Menlo Park-based Felicis led the round, valuing Mercor at $2 billion—eight times its previous valuation, the Wall Street Journal previously reported. Existing investors Benchmark, General Catalyst, and DST Global also participated.
General Catalyst had led the company’s $3.6 million seed round in 2023, while Benchmark backed its $32 million Series A in 2024 at a $250 million valuation.
The round makes CEO Brendan Foody, CTO Adarsh Hiremath, and COO Surya Midha, some of the youngest founders of a billion-dollar startup. The two-year-old platform, which counts Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey, and Adam D’Angelo as backers, says the latest funding will help “accelerate its ability to match billions of people with their calling, applying human talent to its highest potential.”
Founded in 2023, Mercor uses AI to streamline hiring. Its platform automates resume screening, candidate matching, offers AI-powered interviews, and payroll management. Employers upload job descriptions, and Mercor’s system recommends the best candidates.
Mercor claims its automated system not only streamlines hiring but also removes bias from the process. That claim alleges that AI systems are less biased than humans, which hasn’t always proved to be true. Nevertheless, tech companies such as OpenAI are already using Mercor’s automated tools, which the company claims can find better human candidates than, well, other humans.
Job seekers complete a 20-minute AI interview that evaluates their skills and creates a profile. The platform then matches them with relevant full-time, part-time, or hourly roles.
“We collect performance data on candidates and use it to refine our predictions on who will perform best in the future,” Foody said.
Mercor initially focused on hiring software engineers and tech professionals in operations, content creation, product development, and design. Software engineers are still the most in-demand talent on Mercor today, Foody said. But AI labs are increasingly seeking other professionals — consultants, PhDs, bankers, doctors, and lawyers.
To meet rising demand, Mercor has expanded its talent pool, helping HR teams evaluate 468,000 applicants. India remains its largest talent source, followed by the U. …