startups
Canadian startup Borderless AI emerges from stealth with $27m investment to bring AI agent to HR space
Borderless AI, the AI-powered startup disrupting the Employer of Record (EOR) space, announced it has raised $27 million in seed funding to leverage the power of generative AI to automate and accelerate the process of onboarding, managing, and paying international team members. Removing compliance, payment, tax law, and onboarding challenges of the past, Borderless AI's novel AI agent, Alberni, can solve complex problems and automate processes in any country around the world within 10 minutes; the market norm is 7-10 business days.
The $27 million seed round was led by Susquehanna and Aglaé Ventures, the venture arm of Bernard Arnault, currently the richest man in the world, with participation from additional institutional investors. The company was founded by serial entrepreneur Willson Cross and Lyft's founding investor Sean Aggarwal. Borderless AI's launch comes at a time of increased investment and interest in vertical-specific AI, with numerous companies like Harvey for legal services and Sierra for customer service, leading the way and drawing attention to the critical need for AI agents across verticals.
Willson Cross, Co-founder and CEO, Borderless AI: "As the first company in the world to bring AI agents to HR, we are firm believers that AI agents will become commonplace for companies just like websites in the 90s and mobile apps in the 2000s. Leveraging conversational AI, our platform automates many of the complexities within the global HR stack, without hallucinations, such as payroll set-up, time-off requests, or employment agreement generation. Our AI is fluent in a multitude of languages, allowing for geographic expansion and successful deployment of business operations around the globe."
Alberni is available in 170 languages and cuts the time it takes to generate employment agreements, allowing a company's legal and HR teams to move faster, save money and ensure compliance in the onboarding and payments processes. Alberni can also answer complex employment law, finance or tax queries, an important need for the distributed global workforce and employers looking to scale quickly.
Sean Aggarwal, Executive Chairman and Co-founder, Borderless AI: "Our mission is to bring economic empowerment to the world. With our AI first approach to HR, we're removing geographic barriers and democratizing access to the best job opportunities for talented people around the globe, and we're excited to see the possibilities it opens for employers and employees alike."
Borderless AI is serving organizations of all sizes and across industries, and claims popular dating app Raya; MG2, a 500+ employee-size, global architecture firm; and Affiniti, a venture-backed fintech startup as customers. The company worked with Omeed Malik and his investment bank, Farvahar Partners, in raising the majority of the round.
Borderless AI is also a strategic partner of Large Language Model (LLM) leader Cohere and is the only partner deploying Cohere's models to global HR. Borderless AI has developed its proprietary data platform that augments Cohere's LLM, putting trust and accuracy at the forefront of the technology.
Miyuki Matsumoto, Partner, Aglaé Ventures: "The HR industry is ripe for innovation and Borderless AI is one of those companies that has the rare combination of industry expertise, product innovation, and a deeply committed and capable founding team. Globalization isn't going anywhere and companies will rely on seamless technology like Borderless AI and Alberni to help them scale successfully on a global level. We strongly believe that AI agents for HR will become mainstream and we're thrilled to be a part of this journey."
With an increased demand in technologies that help companies navigate complex issues that arise from hiring international team members, such as employment agreements and employee tax forms, Borderless AI's technology is a key differentiator in the EOR market, accelerating the future of work and allowing companies to understand complex queries that previously took days or weeks to navigate.
