While working on MBAs at Harvard Business School, Colombian immigrants Stephanie Mara and Lorenza Veres realized that most of the cafeteria workers were Hispanic. A common theme continued to emerge in conversations with them. How difficult it was for people who legally moved to the US from Spanish-speaking countries to find their first job in the US. I’m not speaking English well or at all, but it was my biggest challenge.
“But we’re watching the news and seeing the US actually face an unprecedented workforce shortage, especially for these types of positions you normally see skilled migrant workers,” Mara told TechCrunch in an interview. “So I was like, ‘OK, there’s definitely a problem here.’ ”
Roommates began research and realized that many potential employers actually use traditional recruitment committees that are “not for Hispanic immigrants.”
“These workers don’t speak English and aren’t very good at technology, but they’re used to finding jobs through friends,” she explained. Furthermore, they are often confused by online applications and are threatened by the idea that someone will interview them in English.
The idea of Ponte labor was born. The duo, who worked together for two years at Columbia’s Fintech Adie, founded a Miami-based company in April 2023 in their final semester at Harvard.
“Employers in hospitality, construction, retail and other blue-collar industries really struggle to play an hourly role, but Hispanic immigrants who have allowed millions of jobs struggle to find stable jobs due to language and cultural barriers,” Vélez said.
“We built a Ponte to fill this gap because we know where to find workers, we can speak their language and communicate with them via their favorite channel, WhatsApp,” Vélez added.
The founders argue that the employment platform is “more and more efficient than traditional methods” for hourly workers who are legally permitted to pre-network, match and equipment.
Workers are directly employed by employers rather than staffing agencies. They say they can not only save their employers money, but also choose a larger pool of employees. Conversely, “workers have access to incredible employment opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to access,” Vélez added.
Ponte only works with documented immigrants. All candidates have been pre-vet for legal work approval before reaching the employer.
The startup has built an in-house AI recruiter to pre-take candidates through WhatsApp and voice-based AI interviews. For now, the focus is solely on the hospitality industry, but plans to expand to other sectors such as future construction and elderly care.
Rapid growth
Ponte has grown steadily since Murra and Vélez officially launched the platform in November 2023, recruiting over 60,000 candidates and placing nearly 800 workers in hospitality roles. That annual net revenue rose from $70,000 in February 2024 to $550,000 today. Although it is not profitable yet, the pair says that the model is more scalable as it works with a higher contribution margin. To date, they say they have burned under $1 million.
Today, Ponte works with 14 employers to use the platform to hire workers such as Omni Hotels and Resorts. It is also a large hotel management company such as Pyramid Global, Peachtree Hotel Group, and Atrium Hospitality.
The startup recently raised a $3 million seed round at a $15 million valuation led by Harlem Capital, only TechCrunch. Better Tomorrow Ventures, 81 Collection and Wischoff Ventures also participated in the fundraising. Ponte previously raised an additional $1.5 million from Better Tomorrow Ventures’ The Mint Accelerator, NFX’s Fast Competition and 81 Collection.
The company’s revenue model is based on success. Ponte charges a monthly fee equivalent to 10% of the worker’s monthly salary for up to 12 months. It’s a high sales industry, so if workers leave within the first month, the hotel will not pay anything.
The startup currently has 15 full-time employees.
Murra said that Ponte’s social media and recruitment channel is Spanish, so over 95% of candidates are Hispanic immigrants. In addition to using WhatsApp, ads are also located on Facebook and Instagram.
“The focus helped me build deep trust with the community and adjust my approach to suit my specific needs,” she said. “But we are language dependent and we are building tools that can be easily adapted to serve other immigrant communities, including Brazilians who speak Portuguese in the future.”
She added that the startup supports native English speakers who have found Ponte.
Looking ahead, the founder says Ponte’s goal is to “create a place to help Hispanic immigrants in the US achieve their professional goals.”
“It’s not just about helping them find entry-level jobs, they want to help them grow in those jobs,” says Vélez. “We’re seeing one of the biggest opportunities to help candidates learn English because it gets stuck between where they are now and promoted for their next job.”
Harlem Capital’s managing partner Henri Pierre-Jacques said he has been tracking the founders since Ponte’s seed days.
“I loved Lorenza and Stephanie being Adi’s former colleagues… and I have a roommate from HBS with me before I start Ponte,” he told TechCrunch. “We received very positive references from customers who rave about their products. They could see strong traction for a bit. It was clear that Stephanie and Lorenza could pretty much do.”
Pierre Jacques also believes Ponte is focusing on Hispanic hospitality workers.
In fact, Hispanics account for about half of the foreign-born workforce in 2023, or 47.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“With Talent Marketplaces, we’re always thinking about how our founders manage the supply side,” he said. “We’ve seen the power of WhatsApp within this community, and Stephanie and Lorenza knew that integrating recruitment workflows through WhatsApp is the perfect channel to find workers.”
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