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HR Platform Ramps Up With AI-Based Recruiter Deal

An Irvine company that developed a human resources platform for hiring and managing employees has partnered with a tech recruiting firm that uses artificial intelligence.

ProSky joined with Santa Monica-based ZipRecruiter to enable customers to target more job seekers—nearly 25 million—via access to ZipRecruiter’s network of job boards, said ProSky co-founder and Chief Executive Crystal Huang. Zip Recruiter’s algorithm helps match jobs to the right candidates in terms of fit and skill set.

ProSky is a one-stop platform for hiring, recruiting and training. It developed software that tracks the performance of candidates and employees at a company and creates a personal blueprint for each employee’s path in the organization. The goal is to develop employees seamlessly, creating “happy employees and culture” while lowering hiring costs, Huang said.

ProSky’s software is strong in evaluations, Huang said. The evaluations are customizable and include individual projects, challenges and tests, compared to a typical annual written performance review. Projects are designed with the intention of evaluating employees on specific skills and soft skills, personal traits that enable someone to interact smoothly and effectively with others.

Through the partnership, ProSky’s clients can automate initial stages of recruiting, sending a single job posting to multiple job boards. Clients also receive a 25% discount and what’s known as a “smart boost,” meaning they rank higher in a job search. They wouldn’t be able to pay for the boosts if they worked directly with ZipRecruiter, Huang said.

ProSky raised $2.6 million in seed funding last year from investors that included Mountain View-based 500 Startups, an early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator where ProSky participated in 2015. Other investors included Chicago-based venture capital firm Lightbank. Lightbank partner and co-founder Eric Lefkofsky is co-founder and chairman of Chicago-based e-commerce marketplace Groupon.

Huang and co-founder Matt Ang launched ProSky in 2014 in Mountain View and moved the company to Irvine last year because they saw Orange County as family-oriented and wanted to help grow the startup community here, Huang said.

“We were able to halve our operation costs while continually growing,” she said, adding that the company has mentored “numerous” startups here in partnership with Irvine co-working facility PeopleSpace.

New VR Title

A company that produces virtual reality content for escape rooms and entertainment companies has released a new experience for amusement parks and haunted houses. 

Irvine-based Escape VR LLC released “Chatfield Penitentiary,” a horror-themed experience that takes place in a prison setting. The Escape team is based at the WeWork co-working space at the 200 Spectrum Center office tower. The company also has an office in Los Angeles.

Clients include Escape Games Canada, Escape Zone 60 in Florida, and Escaparium, with locations in Canada, said co-founder and Chief Executive Simon Chu. He launched the company in August 2016.

Escape has experiences in 20 locations in five countries. Chu said he’s self-funded it with approximately $200,000.

Bits & Pieces

Laguna Hills-based See Jane Go, a women-driving-women ride-hail platform, named co-founder Cassandra Miller chief executive. She had served as chief operating officer since the company launched last year. … The 12-year-old creator of a skateboard that fits into school lockers and backpacks was on the Oct. 1 episode of “Shark Tank.” Carson Kropfl launched the Locker Board website and online store late last year. San Clemente-based Locker Board is a company DBA Streetubez LLC that Kropfl created with his parents, Keith and Carrie Kropfl. … OSEA Angel Investors, an angel investing group tailored to high-net-worth women and co-founded by Xandra Laskowski, donated $4,000 to the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship, Chapman University’s incubator, and $1,000 to Applied Innovation, UCI’s innovation institute. The group has also moved its meetings to The Cove, the physical space of Applied Innovation, and has been invited to syndicate with Tech Coast Angels, meaning it will share opportunities for investments with the angel investor group.

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