Kello
The Insight
Hiring still relies heavily on keyword search over resumes, even though the signals that reveal a person's potential are much richer and scattered across the internet. The best candidate may not be on a job board or actively looking. Kello is built around the belief that talent should be discoverable through a fuller understanding of a person's career, skills, trajectory and context, not just the words on a profile.
The Product
Kello maintains an up-to-date database of more than 800 million candidates globally. Recruiters can describe who they are looking for in plain English and receive a shortlist with reasons for each match. TalentGPT delivers this through chat, while Kello Picks lets recruiters forward a job description by email and receive candidates back.
The Journey
Mona has a master's degree in computer science, is a two-time founder and has worked across four startups, including Airbnb during its early scale-up. Subramanya studied Engineering Design at IIT Madras and co-founded AmbitionBox in his final year, growing it to around 10 million monthly users without paid marketing before it was acquired by Info Edge in 2017. He spent the next five years inside Info Edge before starting Kello.
The Belief
The team is the biggest moat. Play long, keep it simple, enjoy the day-to-day, and dream embarrassingly big.