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Pin, an artificial intelligence-powered recruitment platform that automates candidate sourcing and engagement, announced today it has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Expa Ventures to accelerate its product development and market expansion.
The New York-based startup, which launched just 40 days ago, claims to dramatically reduce the time-to-hire through AI models that can precisely match candidates to job requirements. Pin has already signed over 600 customers nationwide, with 300 new customers added since its October launch.
“LinkedIn searches typically accept maybe 10 to 11 out of 25 candidates provided. That’s really low – you’re wasting a lot of time looking through resumes,” said Steven Lu, Pin’s CEO and co-founder, in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “We’ve built our own foundational models to read every resume out there on the web and enable searching for very exact and precise things.”
Unlike existing AI recruitment tools that screen pre-filtered candidate pools, Pin analyzes over 100 million profiles simultaneously to achieve what Lu claims is an unprecedented 70% candidate acceptance rate into hiring pipelines. The platform can reduce typical 60-day searches to just two weeks.
Custom AI models power Pin’s precision matching capabilities
“We’re not utilizing off-the-shelf OpenAI tools or Anthropic – we built the actual models in house,” Lu explained. “With these foundational models, we’re really able to pinpoint what recruiters are absolutely looking for.”
The funding arrives amid growing demand for AI-powered hiring solutions as companies struggle with inefficient recruitment processes. According to Pin, 47% of companies are dissatisfied with their time-to-hire metrics, while only 56% find their recruiting effective.
From Interseller to Pin: A founder’s journey in HR tech
Lu brings deep expertise to the problem, having previously founded recruitment technology company Interseller, which was acquired by Greenhouse. After two years at Greenhouse observing enterprise recruitment challenges firsthand, Lu identified the need for more intelligent candidate matching.
Pin’s platform handles candidate sourcing, engagement, and scheduling through AI automation. “Our actual workflow is you just hand us a job description, and we’re scheduling meetings into your calendar,” Lu said. “You’re just talking to candidates.”
The company plans to use the funding to expand its AI capabilities and launch new features like applicant review, which will help companies better evaluate inbound applications across 50 different applicant tracking systems.
Analysis: Pin’s market position and future prospects
While the recruitment technology space is crowded, Pin’s early customer traction and technical approach focusing on proprietary AI models rather than off-the-shelf solutions suggests potential for disruption in the $500 billion recruitment market. The company’s ability to execute on its ambitious vision while maintaining quality as it scales will be key to watch.
For technical decision makers evaluating recruitment solutions, Pin’s emphasis on precision matching through custom AI models rather than basic keyword filtering presents an intriguing value proposition, particularly for high-growth companies looking to accelerate technical hiring.
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