Khosla’s Keith Rabois supports Comp, which aims to strengthen HR teams with AI | TechCrunch

After graduating from Cornell University, Christophe Gerlach invested exclusively in HR tech startups for General Atlantic for almost two years. Investing was exciting, but Gerlach longed to get back into business.

While at Cornell, Gerlach (pictured above, right) built and sold one starting up food delivery next to classmate Pedro Bobrow (pictured above, left), a Brazilian native. In late 2022, Gerlach and Bobrow (formerly a product manager at Lyft) teamed up again and combined their industry expertise and cultural roots to launch Comp, an HR tech startup focused on Brazil.

Comp builds AI-powered HR software that can help with tasks like recruiting, setting compensation policies, and designing performance appraisal systems. The startup also provides “forward deployable” experts – former HR managers – who work with clients to design strategies for reward, performance and recruitment.

While companies in Brazil often hire compensation consultants, Gerlach says their HR managers should not be viewed as consultants, but rather as extensions of existing HR teams.

These executives also play a critical role in refining Comp’s technology. “Our forward-facing HR managers do all the work manually first, and then use that work to train the AI ​​to think in best practices,” said Gerlach.

The idea, of course, is that Comp’s AI agents will become fully autonomous over time and be able to perform traditional HR functions.

While Comp currently offers AI-enabled HR services complemented by professionals, the goal is to displace both traditional consulting firms and HR software. As Gerlach puts it: “Rimpling sells software to junior HR teams to make them more productive. We become the HR team.”

To that end, Comp this week raised a $17.25 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures, marking the VC firm’s first-ever investment in a Brazilian company. Khosla general partner Keith Rabois has joined Comp’s board of directors as part of the deal.

Comp is positioning itself as an AI alternative to traditional compensation consultancies such as Mercer, Korn Ferry and Willis Towers Watson. It also competes with global HR platforms such as Rippleing and Workday.

Gerlach says Comp launched in Brazil because many companies in the country lack traditional HR software, allowing the startup to introduce a new, automated model rather than competing with established platforms.

The business model already appears to be gaining popularity in Brazil: its customers include Nubank, QuintoAndar, Creditas and “pretty much every unicorn in Brazil,” Gerlach said. The startup is now looking at expanding to the US and other countries.

Other investors in Comp’s Series A included existing backers Kaszek and Canary, as well as new investors Abstract Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst.