There’s a moment every founder chases, the point where vision meets validation. For Drafted, that moment hit when the Miami-based hiring startup announced a $1.7 million pre-seed round at a $33.4 million pre-money valuation. Not bad for a company that’s only been public since April. But the real story isn’t in the numbers, it’s in how Drafted is reprogramming the hiring equation itself.
Drafted isn’t another resume repository pretending to be innovation. It’s an AI-powered hiring platform connecting early career talent with startups through video assessments and cultural matching. No keyword filters. Just real people meeting real opportunity. In a world where it takes new grads 9 months to find a job, and half end up underemployed, Drafted is cutting through the noise.
The founders? CEO Andrew Kozlovski and CTO Rodrigo Pecchio, two names that carry both hustle and heart. Kozlovski built Brainz Power out of a USC dorm room, paid his way through school, and later helped Y Combinator startups grow. Pecchio, a Venezuelan immigrant who once applied to over 100 jobs before landing at Amazon, built the AI backbone that now powers Drafted. One mastered growth; the other mastered code. Together, they built a system that finally sees the person behind the paper.
Eight months after launch, Drafted has 3,500+ employer partners, including Google, Amazon, and DoorDash, and active partnerships with UCLA, Georgetown, USC, and the University of Chicago. That’s not traction, that’s momentum with intent. When you validate a problem this fast, investors don’t just write checks, they lean in.
This $1.7 million seed will push Drafted’s AI engine further, deepen university pipelines, and expand its employer platform. It’s not about replacing recruiters, it’s about giving them sharper tools. Drafted’s algorithms analyze how candidates communicate, think, and express themselves on video, scoring cultural fit in ways static resumes never could. That’s not automation, that’s clarity.
The irony? In a market obsessed with “humanizing” hiring, it’s AI doing the most human thing, understanding people beyond their credentials. That’s why startups are flocking in. They’re not just hiring talent, they’re investing in alignment.
This round also signals something bigger: Miami’s no longer an underdog, it’s a proving ground. Drafted’s success shows that serious founders don’t need Silicon Valley’s zip code to build serious companies. They just need conviction, execution, and a market ready for change.
Startups, startup funding, early stage, venture capital, pre-seed, AI, hiring, hiring tech, recruitment, recruitment tech, technology, innovation, tech ecosystem, startup ecosystem, DCTalks.
