Perfect, an Israeli startup, has raised $23 million in seed funding for its innovative recruitment platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline the hiring process. The platform, designed for recruiters, aims to save up to 25 hours of work per week by automating tasks such as writing job posts, identifying suitable candidates, and triaging responses.

The funding, announced today, comes in two tranches. The first tranche of $12 million was invested by Target Global, RTP Global, Pitango, and others about a year ago. The second tranche consists of an interest-free SAFE note, which will be converted to equity in the next round, from Hanaco Ventures, Joule Ventures, and Young Sohn, the former president of Samsung and board member of Arm.

Perfect's platform is built from the ground up, using proprietary vector data sets and training its own algorithms. This approach sets it apart from other AI-based HR startups, which often rely on third-party large language models. According to Eylon Etshtein, founder and CEO of Perfect, the company's pre-ChatGPT work has not been superseded by the rise of large language models, as they are "horrible with large payloads" of data.

Etshtein, who previously founded the facial recognition startup Anyvision, drew inspiration from his experiences with hiring at Anyvision. He recognized the need for a platform that could understand a company's hiring requirements and help identify the most suitable candidates. Perfect's platform is designed to do just that, using annotated and ordered data to create insights.

The recruitment industry has become a hotspot for AI developers, given its inefficiencies and the challenges of finding the right candidates. Perfect is not the only player in this space, with companies like LinkedIn, HiBob, Workable, Maki, Mercor, Tezi, and SeekOut also developing AI-powered recruitment tools.

Perfect plans to use the funding to enhance its toolset for recruiters and develop a free tool for candidates to better target their job-seeking efforts. This will not only provide an additional revenue stream but also give the startup access to a trove of data for future projects.

The investment in Perfect highlights the growing interest in AI-powered recruitment solutions, which have the potential to transform the industry. As Lior Prosor, a partner at Hanaco Ventures, noted, "In an industry desperate for true innovation, Perfect is utilizing proprietary data sets and integrating into industry-specific workflows to completely transform how recruitment operates."

With its innovative approach and proprietary technology, Perfect is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the recruitment industry. As the company continues to grow and develop its platform, it will be interesting to see how its technology is adopted by recruiters and job seekers alike.