Bengaluru: Former Swiggy executive Anuj Rathi and former Zomato Chief Technology Officer Prashant Parashar have raised $1.5 million (around ₹13 crore) in seed funding for their artificial intelligence startup, Profound, which aims to build AI-powered digital representatives for professionals.
The funding round attracted several prominent startup founders and investors, reflecting growing confidence in AI-driven career solutions.
Backed by leading startup founders
The seed round saw participation from Swiggy co-founders Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy, former Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah, Razorpay co-founder Harshil Mathur, CRED founder Kunal Shah, OfBusiness co-founder Bhuvan Gupta, along with venture capital firms Stellaris Venture Partners and 3one4 Capital.
The fresh capital will be used to strengthen Profound’s product and engineering teams while enhancing its AI technology and matching capabilities.
AI representative for every professional
Profound’s flagship offering is an “AI Rep”, a digital representative that learns about users through a 30-minute voice conversation. The system understands a person’s career journey, expertise, goals, preferences and work style before helping create professional profiles, introductions and personalised job matches.
Explaining the vision behind the startup, co-founder Anuj Rathi said professionals should have AI representatives just as athletes have agents and actors have managers. He added that users remain in full control, with the AI seeking approval before generating profiles or recommending opportunities.
Early traction and future plans
According to the founders, Profound has already conducted more than 1,000 AI conversations during its pilot phase and has successfully helped fill several job roles.
The startup opened its public waitlist on August 4, allowing users to experience introductory AI interactions. Additional features, including professional representation and AI-powered networking, will be rolled out gradually.
Profound also plans to generate revenue through recruitment services, premium subscriptions and business introductions as it expands its platform. #ArtificialIntelligence #Startup #Funding #Bengaluru #Swiggy #Zomato #NewsKarnataka
