By Abhay Ray 
Introduction
HeyMilo is a seed company based in New York City (United States), founded in 2023 by Sabashan Ragavan and Ramie Raufdeen, HeyMilo is an innovative AI-powered candidate screening platform that aims to transform the recruitment process for staffing agencies, BPOs, and other organizations involved in high-volume hiring. Based in New York City, HeyMilo automates the initial stages of candidate screening, enabling companies to evaluate applicants efficiently, at scale, and without compromising quality. With the backing of $2.2 million in seed funding, the company is poised to accelerate its growth and product development.
AI-Powered Candidate Screening
At its core, HeyMilo uses artificial intelligence agents to automate the interview process, specifically focusing on the early stages of recruitment. The platform’s AI-driven agents autonomously conduct tailored interviews, ask insightful follow-up questions, and generate actionable analyses, which allows hiring teams to quickly and effectively identify the best talent. By utilizing advancements in AI, including large language models (LLMs) and speech-to-text technology, HeyMilo aims to make hiring faster, smarter, and more inclusive.
The platform is designed to save valuable time for recruiters by eliminating repetitive tasks, such as reviewing resumes and conducting initial phone interviews. Instead, HeyMilo’s AI agents seamlessly step in after a candidate applies, conducting interviews across multiple engagement channels like voice, video, phone, and SMS. These agents ask both standard questions and dynamic follow-ups based on candidates’ responses, providing a more conversational and less formal interview experience.
A Comprehensive Approach to Recruitment
HeyMilo’s platform offers a variety of features that address common pain points in recruitment, particularly for companies that hire in large volumes. Key functionalities include:
- AI Agent Builder : HeyMilo integrates with a company’s applicant tracking system (ATS) to read job descriptions and automatically generate customized interviews. The platform supports various communication channels, including voice, video, phone, and SMS, all of which can be tailored to the company’s specific screening and vetting needs.
- AI Agent Interviewer : The AI agent screens candidates through “knockout” questions and follows up with more specific inquiries based on their answers. This ensures that each interview is personalized and that candidates’ skills and fit for a role are accurately assessed.
- Interview Analysis : The platform transcribes and scores interview responses, providing detailed insights that allow hiring managers to make data-driven decisions without leaving their ATS of choice.
Meeting the Needs of High-Volume Hiring
For organizations hiring hundreds or thousands of people annually, traditional recruitment methods can become cumbersome. Reviewing resumes, scheduling calls, and asking the same set of questions repeatedly can slow down the process. This is where HeyMilo’s AI agents step in, automating much of the screening process, so recruiters can focus their efforts on the most promising candidates. By automating the initial stages of recruitment, HeyMilo not only increases speed but also helps hiring teams discover a wider range of candidates—especially those who might be overlooked in traditional resume screenings. The result is a more inclusive recruitment process that improves the quality of hires and reduces the time it takes to identify top candidates.
According to Rayfe Gaspar-Asaoka, partner at Canaan Partners, “Great companies are built on great people, but the hiring process hasn’t kept up with the speed of modern business. HeyMilo is changing that by bringing AI-powered agents into recruiting, making it possible to connect with more candidates, faster, without sacrificing quality, fairness, or the personal touch.”
The Road Ahead for HeyMilo
With the $2.2 million in seed funding, HeyMilo plans to focus on several strategic initiatives. The company intends to invest heavily in product development to add more flexibility to the platform’s interview capabilities. This includes expanding the types of questions the AI can ask, improving the adaptability of interviews in real time, and adding multilingual support.
HeyMilo is also targeting growth in its customer base. The company aims to extend its platform to more staffing agencies, BPOs, and internal HR teams, particularly those managing large applicant pools with limited recruiter bandwidth. In addition, HeyMilo plans to explore new communication channels for interviews, ensuring that candidates can choose the method they are most comfortable with, whether it’s a video call, phone conversation, or chat.
Founders’ Background and Vision
Sabashan Ragavan and Ramie Raufdeen bring significant experience to the company, having previously worked at major tech companies like Instagram, Microsoft, and Salesforce. They also built a startup focused on job referrals before founding HeyMilo. Their vision is to develop recruitment technology that works for both companies and candidates.
According to Sabashan Ragavan, co-founder and CEO of HeyMilo, “HeyMilo allows staffing and recruiting agencies, BPOs, and other high-volume hiring organizations to scale their recruitment team infinitely. They can view HeyMilo as their candidate interview orchestrator, effectively identifying top candidates in hours, not weeks.”
Investor Support and Early Customer Success
HeyMilo’s seed funding round was led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Alumni Ventures and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator. These investors bring valuable startup experience and industry connections that could help HeyMilo scale its operations.
Early customers have already seen the benefits of the platform. For instance, BPO Labs, a staffing firm, has used HeyMilo to allow a team of ten recruiters to manage the workload of a team of thirty. This efficiency boost is a critical advantage in the staffing industry, where speed and scalability are paramount.
Laura Pacheco, head of recruiting at BPO Labs, noted, “As soon as candidates apply, they can start the process immediately, and we can begin evaluating their language and skills right away. You no longer have to wait for a recruiter to call—it’s all automatic.”
Conclusion
The tools currently available to recruiters were never designed for the scale and speed required by modern businesses. Whether it’s retail hiring during the holiday season, staffing new call centers, or filling tech roles during hiring surges, organizations need faster ways to move from application to interview while maintaining a human touch. HeyMilo aims to strike that balance by offering more automation where it helps while retaining the fairness, depth, and personalization necessary for good hiring decisions. The company’s innovative use of AI in recruitment holds great potential to redefine how businesses approach hiring and talent acquisition in the future.
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