By Riley Kaminer
It started with a simple question over lunch: Why were so many cafeteria workers at Harvard Business School struggling to find jobs when the U.S. had a labor shortage?
Colombian founders Stephanie Murra and Lorenza Vélez [pictured above] were classmates at HBS, roommates, and former colleagues at Colombian fintech Addi. But it was during casual conversations with the mostly Hispanic cafeteria staff that they uncovered a major disconnect: people with work permits were desperate for jobs, but kept hitting walls – especially if they didn’t speak English.
“But then we’re looking at the news and seeing that the U.S. is actually facing an unprecedented labor shortage, especially for these types of positions where you would usually see low-skilled immigrant workers,” Murra told TechCrunch. “So we were like, ‘Ok, there’s definitely an issue here.’”
That disconnect – the labor shortage on one side, overlooked immigrant workers on the other – led the pair to launch Ponte Labor, a Miami-based startup built around one simple insight: immigrants already use WhatsApp for everything, so why not use it to get a job?
“These workers, many of whom don’t speak English and are not really good with technology, are used to finding jobs through friends,” Murra said. “They are often confused by online applications and get intimidated by the idea of someone interviewing them in English.”
Instead of forcing workers into clunky job sites or staffing agencies, Ponte meets them where they are. Candidates are screened via WhatsApp, using a voice-based AI recruiter developed in-house. The platform pre-vets every applicant to ensure legal work status, then matches them with employers in industries like hospitality that are constantly hiring.
“Employers in hospitality, construction, retail, and other blue-collar industries really struggle to fill hourly roles while millions of work-authorized Hispanic immigrants struggle to find stable jobs due to language and cultural barriers,” said Vélez.
“We know where to find the workers, speak their language and communicate with them via their preferred channel, WhatsApp. So we built Ponte to bridge this gap,” Vélez added.
That focus on trust, communication, and cultural relevance has helped Ponte scale fast. Since formally launching in November 2023, the company has onboarded over 60,000 candidates and placed nearly 800 in jobs. Its annualized net revenue jumped from $70,000 in February 2024 to $550,000 just a few months later.
The startup just raised a $3 million seed round led by Harlem Capital at a $15 million valuation. Better Tomorrow Ventures, The 81 Collection, and Wischoff Ventures also joined the round. The company had previously raised $1.5 million through accelerator programs and early competitions.
Harlem Capital’s Henri Pierre-Jacques saw potential from day one.
“I loved that Lorenza and Stephanie were former colleagues at Addi…and then roommates at HBS together before starting Ponte,” he said. “We received very positive references from customers who raved about their product. They have managed to see strong traction in little time. It was obvious that Stephanie and Lorenza could do a lot with very little.”
Ponte has drawn interest from major employers like Omni Hotels & Resorts and large hotel groups including Pyramid Global, Peachtree Hotel Group, and Atrium Hospitality. It now has 15 full-time employees and a growing list of partners.
Its business model is simple: it charges employers a monthly fee equal to 10% of the worker’s salary for up to 12 months. But if the worker leaves in the first month? No charge.
“With talent marketplaces we are always thinking about how our founders manage the supply side,” Pierre-Jacques continued. “We have seen the power of WhatsApp within this community and Stephanie and Lorenza understood integrating the recruiting workflow through WhatsApp was the best channel to find their workers.”
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