Mappa’s AI voice analysis helps you find the best job candidates and will showcase its technology at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Even after reviewing resumes, cover letters, and interviews, selecting the right candidate for the job can be a mysterious process. Hiring managers often rely on their own biases about the world or gut feelings to make their decision, making the process far from an exact science.

That’s why Sarah Lucena built Mappa, an AI-powered behavioral intelligence platform that aims to take some of the guesswork out of hiring. Mapa trained the AI ​​model to detect voice patterns that correlate with certain traits, such as communication style, empathy, and trust. Applicants simply answer a few questions from Mappa’s AI agent, and the platform then sends hiring managers a shortlist of candidates with traits that match the role.

Mappa is a finalist for the Top 20 Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco.

“Mappa comes to the market with the goal of really understanding people,” Lucena said in an interview with TechCrunch. “We don’t classify traits as good or bad. We understand traits as compatible or not.”

Lucina founded Mappa in 2023 with her co-founders, Pablo Bérgolo and Daniel Moretti, raising $3.4 million in a seed round led by Tim Draper’s investment firm Draper Associates. In less than three years, the startup has expanded to over 130 clients in the US and over $4 million in annual recurring revenue.

Mappa claims that one of its biggest advantages is data. The startup has built highly curated datasets specifically to understand human behavior. Mappa originally attempted to evaluate candidates based on video presentations and online presence; However, they have found that voice analysis is the most effective method.

Mappa’s platform has already helped companies find employees who stay longer, according to Lucena. While the standard annual turnover rate for companies is about 30%, she says employees hired through Mappa have a turnover rate of just 2%.

Lucena says Mappa’s focus has always been on helping companies find the best people, but this often results in a more equitable hiring process. Mappa has facilitated more than 3,000 hires to date, of which more than 60% were women, the LGBTQ+ community, or immigrants. Lucina, who was born and raised in Brazil, says she is proud to have created more opportunities for these people.

Going forward, Lucena says she sees Mappa evolving from a services company into an infrastructure provider. The startup’s application programming interface (API) has seen traction among companies that want to use its behavioral analysis in situations beyond recruiting. Tim Draper personally uses Mappa to evaluate founders his company is considering investing in, and educational platform Re-Skilling.ai uses the platform to understand what skills students can improve.

In the future, Lucena sees Mappa being used to help approve loan candidates who don’t have an extensive credit history. She sees Mappa as a tool to help evaluate people more fairly in all types of settings.

If you want to hear from Mappa live, see dozens of additional promotions, attend valuable workshops, and make connections that drive business results, Head here to learn more about this year’s Disruptheld from October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.