Halifax-based human resources startup EmployNXT will launch its product Monday with a focus on its beachhead markets of Atlantic Canada and Ontario, as CEO Shubhra Singh eyes a six-figure capital raise.

Singh originally created EmployNXT as a LinkedIn group for women in the technology sector who wanted to share advice and resources when she started in the industry in the early 2000s. Now, Singh’s team has developed an artificial intelligence system to help match employers with job applicants based on the AI’s assessment of their abilities and preferences, while concealing whether the candidate belongs to any underrepresented groups in order to guard against bias.

It was after she arrived in Canada in 2021 to pursue a master’s degree in technology entrepreneurship at Saint Mary’s University that Singh began collaborating with her two current business partners, Purvasha Dewanjee and Rajat Budhiraja — both of whom joined in 2023, the year after Singh incorporated the business. Dewanjee is a veteran AI salesperson and graduate of the same degree program as Singh, while Budhiraja is a longtime tech executive based in Toronto.

“We automated probably 90 percent of (an employer’s) hiring journey,” said Singh in an interview Thursday. “We help them find the best talent, without their name, race or ethnicity.

“The focus is more on analytics … based on the skills that the client is wanting. We conduct a preliminary interview on their behalf through our generative AI chatbot, so this saves a lot of time.”

The preliminary interviews to which Singh referred include a mix of the generalized questions common to most job interviews, as well as a smattering of questions designed to gauge specific job skills. Employers can specify how closely they want a candidate’s interview results to match a predetermined description, with the option to automatically build in additional leeway for applicants belonging to underrepresented groups.

EmployNXT will use a “pay-as-you-go” revenue model for employers looking to post 10 or fewer jobs, with $350 paid when a job is posted and $750 paid when a job is filled. Larger employers, meanwhile, can receive bulk discounts of up to 45 percent. Some clients will also be eligible for industry-specific discounts, Singh said, such as in the case of universities, because they can add value by directing their students to the platform.

She described Monday’s product launch as being for a minimum viable product, since her goal for the platform is continuous improvement, but a previous beta test has already proven popular with customers. And Singh said she is in talks with several prospective clients.

“We did our customer discovery based on companies that helped us understand where their processes are and how we can … reduce their manual effort,” said Singh, who added that EmployNXT’s business development strategy will also include hosting in-person gatherings.

“For companies, also, we are planning to conduct events wherein we can call our pool of candidates and show them what the work culture is like — so you can do speed hiring from the event itself and close positions very fast.”

So far, the EmployNXT team includes its three co-founders and a trio of software developers based in India, who work alongside a part-time designer. Singh is partway through a $500,000 venture capital raise, and she plans to hire another 12 people by the end of this year.

“We are at a stage where we are looking at VCs who can fund us …  because the product is really robust, as well as other big companies that can take us on as a pilot project and see the value add there,” said Singh.