Dex raises $5.3m seed

Dex said Tuesday it raised a $5.3 million seed round led by Notion Capital to expand its recruiting service for engineers and artificial-intelligence researchers. (fortune.com) Fortune reported that a16z Speedrun, Concept Ventures, and angel investors including OpenAI alumni also joined the round. The new financing brings Dex’s total funding to $8.4 million. (fortune.com) (msn.com) Dex was founded by Paddy Lambros, a former Atomico adviser, and CTO Harry Uglow. The company pitches itself as an “AI talent agent” for high-end technical hires rather than a conventional job board. (meetdex.ai) (techcrunch.com) The service talks with candidates by voice or text, builds a profile with large language models, and matches them with employers looking for specific technical skills. Fortune said Dex uses models from OpenAI and Anthropic in that process. (fortune.com) (chaincatcher.com) Dex says more than 15,000 engineers have registered on the platform and more than 50 tech companies use it, including ElevenLabs and Synthesia. Those figures give the startup a foothold in a hiring market centered on a small pool of experienced AI workers. (fortune.com) (lookonchain.com) Instead of selling software subscriptions, Dex takes a commission when a candidate is hired. Fortune reported that fee runs between 20% and 30% of salary. (fortune.com) (gate.com) Fortune also reported that Dex launched its paid service in late 2025, has reached about $1.8 million in annualized revenue, and expects to break even this year. That gives investors a near-term test of whether AI recruiting firms can turn demand for scarce engineers into durable revenue. (fortune.com) (gate.com) The pitch lands as companies keep competing for a limited supply of machine-learning engineers and researchers. Dex is betting that a recruiter built around AI matching, coaching, and screening can win business from startups that need to hire fast. (fortune.com) (techcrunch.com) For Dex, the next step is straightforward: turn investor backing and early customer logos into more placements before larger recruiting firms build similar tools. (fortune.com)