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Image Credits:Ponte Labor / Co-founders (left to right) Stephanie Murra and Lorenza Vélez
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While influence on their MBAs at Harvard Business School , Colombian immigrantsStephanie MurraandLorenza Véleznoticed that most of the workers in the cafeteria were Hispanic . In conversations with them , a common theme kept coming up : how difficult it was for people who legally moved to the U.S. from Spanish - verbalize countries to ascertain their first job in the United States . Not speaking English well or at all , unsurprisingly , was the biggest challenge .
“ But then we ’re looking at the news and seeing that the U.S. is in reality facing an unprecedentedlabor shortage , especially for these character of office where you would usually see small - skilled immigrant workers , ” Murra tell TechCrunch in an audience . “ So we were like , ‘ Ok , there ’s definitely an issue here . ’ ”
The roommates commence doing research and realized that many possible employer would utilise traditional job board like Indeed , which is “ not meant for Latino immigrants , ” Murra said .
“ These workers , many of whom do n’t verbalize English and are not really good with engineering , are used to finding job through friends , ” she explain . Further , they are often blur by online app and get intimidated by the theme of someone interviewing them in English .
The idea forPonte Laborwas born . The twosome — who had previously mold together for two years at Colombian fintechAddi — founded the Miami - based company in April 2023 , during their final semester at Harvard .
“ employer in cordial reception , construction , retail , and other blue - collar manufacture really struggle to meet hourly roles while millions of work - authorise Latino immigrant struggle to find stable jobs due to speech and cultural barriers , ” said Vélez .
“ We fuck where to find the worker , speak their language and communicate with them via their preferred groove , WhatsApp . So we built Ponte to bridge over this crack , ” Vélez added .
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The beginner exact that their rent platform pre - vets , matches , and onboards legally clear hourly workers “ faster and more efficiently than traditional methods . ”
Workers are hire directly by employer rather than through staffing representation , which they say not only saves employer money , but gives them a larger pool of potential employee to choose from . On the flip side , “ workers gain access to incredible problem opportunity that are difficult for them to get at otherwise , ” Vélez add .
Ponte only work with document immigrants : every nominee is pre - vet for sound work authorization before reaching an employer .
The startup has built an in - household AI recruiter which pre - vets candidates through WhatsApp and voice - based AI interviews . For now , it is only focused on the cordial reception diligence but contrive to exposit into other sectors such as twist or sr. care in the future tense .
Fast growth
Ponte has been steady growing since Murra and Vélez formally launched the platform in November 2023 , onboarding over 60,000 candidates and placing nearly 800 workers in cordial reception function . Its annualized net revenue has farm from $ 70,000 in February of 2024 to $ 550,000 today . It is not yet profitable , but the duo say they operate with gamey share margins , so their modelling is more scalable . To day of the month , they say they ’ve burn less than $ 1 million .
Today , Ponte is working with 14 employer using its platform to hire workers , like Omni Hotels & Resorts , as well as large hotel direction companies such as Pyramid Global , Peachtree Hotel Group , and Atrium Hospitality .
The inauguration recently raised a $ 3 million come round led by Harlem Capital at a $ 15 million evaluation , it told TechCrunch exclusively . Better Tomorrow Ventures , The 81 Collection , and Wischoff Ventures also participated in the financing . Ponte antecedently stir another $ 1.5 million combined from Better Tomorrow Ventures ’ The Mint gun , NFX ’s FAST Competition and The 81 Collection .
The companionship ’s revenue mannikin is achiever - based . Ponte charges a monthly fee equivalent to 10 % of a doer ’s monthly salary for up to 12 months . Because it ’s a high employee turnover industriousness , if the actor go away within the first month , the hotel bear nothing .
Presently , the inauguration has 15 full - metre employees .
Because Ponte ’s social media and recruiting distribution channel are in Spanish , over 95 % of its candidates are Latino immigrant , note Murra . Besides using WhatsApp , it also places ads on Facebook and Instagram .
“ That focus has helped us build deep trust with the residential district and tailor our coming to their specific pauperism , ” she say . “ But we ’re building putz that are language - agnostic and could easily be adapted to function other immigrant community , include Portuguese - speak Brazilians , in the future . ”
And , she added , the startup has even supported aboriginal English speakers who found Ponte , which was named after the word in Lusitanian mean “ bridge . ”
look ahead , the founders say Ponte ’s destination is to “ make a topographic point to aid Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. achieve their professional goals . ”
“ So that ’s not just help them happen an entry grade job . We also want to help them get within those jobs , ” Vélez said . “ We see one of the openhanded opportunities in helping the candidates memorise English , because that ’s where they get stick between where they are right now and getting a publicity for their next job . ”
Henri Pierre - Jacques , managing better half of Harlem Capital , said he ’d been trail the founders from Ponte ’s pre - seed days .
“ I have it off that Lorenza and Stephanie were former colleagues at Addi … and then roommates at HBS together before get down Ponte , ” he told TechCrunch . “ We receive very positive references from customers who raved about their Cartesian product . They have manage to see strong traction in footling metre . It was obvious that Stephanie and Lorenza could do a lot with very little . ”
Pierre - Jacques also believes that Ponte ’s focal point on Hispanic hospitality worker is “ a huge differentiator . ”
Indeed , Hispanicsaccounted for near one - half , or 47.6 % , of the foreign - born DoL force in 2023 in the U.S. , according to the U.S. Department of Labor .
“ With endowment marketplaces we are always thinking about how our founders handle the provision side , ” he say . “ We have seen the big businessman of WhatsApp within this community and Stephanie and Lorenza infer integrate the recruiting workflow through WhatsApp was the best channel to obtain their workers . ”
