Comp raises $17.25 million to automate HR with AI

Comp, an HR technology startup based in Brazil, raised a $17.25 million Series A round this week—a stage of venture capital financing. The funding round was led by U.S.-based Khosla Ventures, marking the venture capital firm’s first-ever investment in a Brazilian company. As part of the transaction, Khosla general partner Keith Rabois has joined Comp’s board of directors. Other participants in the Series A round included existing investors Kaszek and Canary, alongside new investors Abstract Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst.

The startup was launched in late 2022 by co-founders Christophe Gerlach and Pedro Bobrow, who previously built and sold a food delivery startup together while studying at Cornell University. Before teaming up to launch Comp, Gerlach spent nearly two years investing exclusively in HR tech startups for General Atlantic, while Bobrow, a Brazilian native, worked as a product manager at Lyft.

Comp’s model relies on “forward-deployed” HR experts—former human resources executives who work directly with customers to design strategies for compensation, performance, and recruiting. These experts initially perform tasks manually to train the AI. According to co-founder Christophe Gerlach, “Our forward-deployed HR execs do all the work manually at first, and then they use that work to train the AI how to think in best practices.” The idea, of course, is that over time, Comp’s AI agents will become fully autonomous and capable of performing traditional HR functions.

The startup aims to displace both traditional consultancies and established HR software providers. Rather than acting solely as a software tool, the company positions itself as an extension of its clients’ internal HR teams. Gerlach noted that while competitors like Rippling sell software to make junior HR teams more productive, Comp aims to actually become the HR team itself.

Comp intends to challenge several established global and regional players, including:

• Traditional compensation consultancies: Mercer, Korn Ferry, and Willis Towers Watson.
• Global HR software platforms: Rippling and Workday.

Comp launched in Brazil because many local companies lack traditional HR software, allowing the startup to introduce its automated model directly. Its current clients in Brazil include Nubank, QuintoAndar, and Creditas. Following this funding round, the startup is eyeing an expansion into the U.S. and other countries.

Why it matters

Comp is attempting to shift the HR tech model from software-as-a-tool to software-as-a-service-provider, using human-in-the-loop training to eventually automate complex HR functions.