The job search can be daunting, especially if you are a non-immigrant in the U.S. Not only do you have to compete on the merits of your resume, but you also have to sift through hundreds of posts to identify the few that sponsor work visas. And if you lose your job, you only have 60 days to accept another position before you have to leave the country.
The lottery — the H-1B program that randomly selects skilled foreigners to work in the U.S. — is notoriously difficult to win. For fiscal year 2025, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received almost half a million entries, according to official data. About 120,000 people are selected to go to the “registration” stage, but in the end, only 85,000, or 18%, of all applicants will receive a visa.
A California-based startup called Jobright.ai wants to make it easier for foreign workers to find work in the U.S. As an immigrant, the company’s founder Eric Cheng knows firsthand the struggles of foreign workers, so it makes no sense to build an “H1-B Filter” into Jobbright , TechCrunch said. The feature, based on USCIS data of companies that have historically sponsored H1-B visas, has quickly become popular among job seekers from India and China.
“This group has been neglected for a long time,” said Cheng, who previously worked as an early engineer for Box. So far, about 30% of Jobright’s users are foreign workers. And thanks to the H-1B filter, Jobbright has collected 50,000 users since its launch in April, without spending on marketing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was traveling in China after selling a content collaboration SaaS company, Cheng came up with the idea of a job search platform. During his months-long journey, he visited mostly underdeveloped cities, where he met dozens of young people struggling to find work in the midst of the global economy. Cheng eventually helped 10 of them secure jobs just by asking about their skills and advising them on career options.
“They are talented, but their understanding of the job market is quite limited. They just don’t know what’s out there and what they can do,” Cheng said. “What if they all had a headhunter they knew and could recommend jobs they didn’t know about? The advent of ChatGPT gave me the ability to build that tool.
Using a large language model, Jobright created an AI agent that acts as a headhunter that matches job seekers. AI interprets candidates’ experiences and suggests jobs they might not otherwise consider. It scores positions based on compatibility with candidates, a feature used by 60% of Jobright users every day. It also helps users search for LinkedIn contacts who will provide job referrals by identifying alumni or former colleagues.
Despite competing in a crowded AI job search market, Jobright thinks it has found a niche. While it shares some features – like using AI to write resumes and fill out applications – with more established players such as YC-backed Simplify, the target users are different.
“Most users are mid- to senior-level professionals with at least a few years of work experience,” Cheng said. “The challenge is not to apply for another job, but to find job search strategies and opportunities that match your career stage and professional strengths.” Simple, on the other hand, is popular among students looking for internships and recent graduates, the founder observed.
“Yes, there is LinkedIn and other job listing platforms, but users still have to spend a lot of time searching for themselves. The information asymmetry is too big,” he added.
When asked if he was worried that LinkedIn might develop similar AI features to replace Jobright, Cheng suggested that the giant is fundamentally a social network, while Jobright is designed to be “originally AI.”
“LinkedIn’s cost to complete AI is high because it has to overturn its core ad-based business model, which is driven by clicks rather than accuracy. We don’t just wrap AI. AI defines every aspect of our product, whether it’s data, recommendations or user experience.
Jobright previously raised a $4.5 million round led by Lanchi Venture, followed by UpHonest Ventures and Source Code Capital. Down the road, the startup has plans to expand its user base outside the US
