Mappa’s AI voice analysis helps you find the best job candidates and will show off its tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Even after reviewing resumes, cover letters, and interviews, selecting the right candidate for the job can be a mysterious process. Hiring managers often rely on their biases about the world or gut feelings to inform their decisions, making the process far from an exact science.

That’s why Sarah built Lucena MapAn AI-powered behavioral intelligence platform aimed at taking some of the guesswork out of hiring. Mappa trained an AI model to recognize voice patterns that correlate with certain characteristics, such as communication style, empathy and confidence. Applicants simply answer a few questions from Mappa’s AI agent, and then the platform sends a shortlist of candidates with characteristics compatible with the role to hiring managers.

Map one Startup battlefield At the top 20 finalists TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 In San Francisco.

“Measure comes to market with the goal of really understanding people,” Lucena said in an interview with TechCrunch. “We don’t really categorize features as good or bad. We understand features as compatible or not.”

Lucena founded Mappa in 2023 with his two co-founders, Pablo Bergolo and Daniele Moretti, and raised $3.4 million in a seed round led by Tim Draper’s investment firm, Draper Associates. In less than three years, the startup has scaled to over 130 customers in the US and over $4 million in annual recurring revenue.

Mappa claims its biggest advantage is data. The startup has created highly curated datasets specifically for understanding human behavior. Mappa primarily attempted to evaluate candidates based on video submissions and their online presence; However, they found voice analysis to be the most effective method.

According to Lucena, Mappa’s platform has already helped companies find employees who stay longer. While the standard annual turnover rate for companies is around 30%, he says employees recruited through Mappa have a turnover rate of just 2%.

Lucena says that while Mappa’s focus is always on helping companies find the best people, it often results in a more equitable hiring process. Mappa has facilitated over 3,000 hires to date and over 60% of them have been women, LGBTQ+ or immigrants. Lucena, who was born and raised in Brazil, says she is proud to create more opportunities for these people.

Going forward, Lucena says he sees Mappa evolving from a service company to an infrastructure provider. The startup’s API has seen traction among companies that want to use its behavioral analytics in situations outside of recruiting. Tim Draper personally uses Mappa to assess founders his firm is considering investing in, and the educational platform Re-Skilling.ai uses the platform to understand the skills students can improve.

In the future, Lucena sees MAPPA being used to help get approved for loans by candidates who don’t have an extensive credit history. He sees MAPPA as a tool to help evaluate people more fairly in all kinds of settings.

If you want to hear directly from Mappa, and watch dozens of additional pitches, attend valuable workshops, and make connections that drive business results, Go here to learn more about this year’s disruptionHeld in San Francisco from October 27 to 29.