Even after reviewing resumes, cover letters, and interviews, selecting the right candidate for a job can be a mysterious process. Hiring managers often rely on their preconceptions about the world or gut feelings to inform their decision, making the process far from an exact science.
That’s why Sarah Lucena created Mappa, an AI-powered behavioral intelligence platform that aims to take some of the guesswork out of hiring. Mappa trained an AI model to detect voice patterns that correlate with certain characteristics, such as communication style, empathy and confidence. Candidates simply answer a few questions from Mappa’s AI agent, and the platform then sends recruiters a shortlist of candidates with characteristics compatible with the role.
Mappa is a Startup Battlefield Top 20 finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco.
“Mappa comes to market with the goal of really, truly understanding people,” Lucena told TechCrunch. “We don’t really categorize features as good or bad. We understand features as compatible or not.”
Lucena founded Mappa in 2023 with her two co-founders, Pablo Bérgolo and Daniel 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 more than 130 US customers and more than $4 million in annual recurring revenue.
Mappa claims that one of its biggest strengths is data. The startup has created highly curated datasets specifically for understanding human behavior. Mappa initially tried to evaluate candidates based on their video submissions and online presence. However, they found voice analysis to be the most effective method.
Mappa’s platform has already helped companies find employees who will stay longer, according to Lucena. While the typical annual turnover rate for companies is around 30%, he says workers hired through Mappa have a turnover rate of just 2%.
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Lucena says Mappa’s focus is always on helping companies find the best people, but that often leads to a fairer hiring process. Mappa has facilitated more than 3,000 hires to date, and more than 60% of them have been women, LGBTQ+ or immigrants. Lucena, who was born and raised in Brazil, says she is proud to have created 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 looking to use its behavioral analytics in situations beyond recruiting. Tim Draper personally uses Mappa to evaluate founders his company is considering investing in, and education platform Re-Skilling.ai uses the platform to understand the skills students can improve on.
In the future, Lucena sees that Mappa could be used to help approve loan applicants who do not have an extensive credit history. He sees Mappa as a tool to help more fairly assess people in all kinds of settings.
If you want to hear Mappa firsthand and see dozens of additional presentations, attend valuable workshops and make the connections that lead to business results, head here to learn more about this year’s Disruptheld from October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.
