/Companies

Sense

San Francisco, US · Founded 2016 · 486 employees on LinkedIn · 8 known investors

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Sense offers an enterprise recruiting platform for talent acquisition and staffing teams, combining a conversational CRM, AI recruiter, interview scheduling, automation, and SMS/WhatsApp messaging to engage candidates and speed up hiring. It serves industries including healthcare, manufacturing and warehousing, technology and IT, logistics, retail and hospitality, and financial services.

Also known as Sense Talent Labs, Inc. · SenseHQ

Founders & leadership

Sense was founded in 2016 by Ram Gudavalli, Pankaj Jindal, and Anil Dharni.

RG
Ram GudavalliCo-founder / Engineering
PJPankaj Jindal
Pankaj JindalFounder
ADAnil Dharni
Anil DharniCo-Founder/CEOAnil Dharni founded Sense in 2015 and previously co-founded Funzio, a mobile games studio acquired by GREE for $210M in 2012, where he served as COO of GREE International afterward; he also led product at hi5 during its growth to over 60M monthly users. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and is an angel investor in multiple companies including Palantir, Skydio, and Amplitude.
AR
Alex RosenFounder

Board

NR
Narendra RathiBoard director
TC
Tyson ClarkBoard director
ADAnand Daniel
Anand DanielBoard MemberPartner at Accel
NR
Nishant RaoBoard director

Investors · 8

Also in the syndicate · 1

Avataar Ventureslead

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$66M disclosed across 2 of 4 rounds · 2020–2021

▶$16MraisedDec 2021 · 4 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Narendra RathiDirector
  • Ram GudavalliExecutive Officer, Director
  • Tyson ClarkDirector
  • Anil DharniExecutive Officer, Director
  • Anand DanielDirector
  • Nishant RaoDirector
Offering amount
$16M
Amount sold
$16M
First sale
Oct 2020
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$50MraisedDec 2021 · 2 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Ram GudavalliExecutive Officer, Director
  • Narendra RathiDirector
  • Nishant RaoDirector
  • Anand DanielDirector
  • Anil DharniExecutive Officer, Director
  • Tyson ClarkDirector
Offering amount
$50M
Amount sold
$50M
First sale
Nov 2021
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Sense, operated by Sense Talent Labs, Inc., provides an AI-powered recruiting platform designed to sit on top of an employer's applicant tracking system and automate outreach, screening, candidate matching, engagement and interview scheduling. The platform is organized into modules including recruiting automation and engagement, a conversational CRM that operates inside the customer's ATS, an AI Recruiter, an AI Interviewer, conversational AI chatbots, conversational voice AI for automated phone screening and reference checks, SMS and WhatsApp messaging (1:1, campaign and automated), AI screening, candidate matching, employee referrals, interview scheduling for 1:1, panel and sequential formats, and analytics and insights.

The product is positioned to support both partial automation of early-stage candidate outreach and end-to-end management of open roles. Sense also markets a set of "Sense AI Agents." The company emphasizes integrations with existing HR technology stacks so that data and workflows connect to the customer's broader recruiting ecosystem.

Business model

Sense sells software to employer and staffing talent teams, with a pricing page and a demo-request sales motion indicated on its website. [0]

Traction

Sense reports that over 1,000 organizations use the platform. Customer-attributed results cited on its site include a 30% reduction in time-to-match, a 40% increase in candidate conversion rate, a 7% decrease in turnover, a 4x increase in completed interviews, 50% faster time-to-screen, 18 hours saved per recruiter per week, and a 75% reduction in time-to-offer. [0]

Latest developments

Sense is promoting a new set of Sense AI Agents alongside its conversational voice AI capability for automated screening and reference-check phone calls. [0]

▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography

Market position

Sense states that more than 1,000 market leaders use the platform to accelerate hiring, and references customers including Dell. [0]

Technology

The platform applies AI across the recruiting workflow: automated candidate screening and matching, an AI Recruiter and AI Interviewer, conversational AI chatbots, and conversational voice AI that places automated phone calls for screening and reference checks. Automated messaging is delivered over SMS and WhatsApp, and the system integrates with customers' ATS and wider HR tech stack. The company publishes a Sense AI Policy. [0]

Go-to-market

Direct sales through personalized demo requests, supported by customer stories, a blog, books and reports, events and media resources; the company also cites training and customer support during implementation. [0]

Talent acquisition and staffing teams. Named industry solutions include financial services and insurance, healthcare, retail/restaurant/hospitality, logistics and transportation, manufacturing and warehousing, staffing, and technology and IT. [0]

Geography

Headquartered at 1875 Mission Street, Suite 103, San Francisco, CA 94103. [0]

Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
Customers (market leaders using platform)Jan 20261,000 companies
HeadcountAug 2026486

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Founder mafia

3 people who came through Sense went on to found or lead other companies.

▸Research sources · 1

primary sources listed

1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Sense do?
Sense is an AI-powered recruiting platform that automates candidate screening, matching, engagement and interview scheduling.
Who founded Sense?
Sense was founded by Ram Gudavalli, Pankaj Jindal, Anil Dharni in 2016.
Who are Sense's investors?
Sense's investors include Accel, Avataar Venture Partners, GV (Google Ventures), SoftBank Vision Fund, Khosla Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, SoftBank Group.
How much funding has Sense raised?
Sense has disclosed $66M raised across 2 of its 4 known rounds.
Where is Sense headquartered?
Sense is headquartered in San Francisco, US.