Nancy Xu

Founder and CEO of Moonhub

Nancy Xu, founder and CEO of Moonhub, an AI-powered recruiting platform used by billion-dollar companies to hire top talent.

Born in China and raised in the US, Xu became the first person to complete a dual PhD in AI and MBA at Stanford University. She trained for the US Math and Physics teams as a student and later co-founded The Gradient, a widely read AI publication focused on research and industry developments.

She began her career at Meta's AI research division before leading healthcare AI and automation at AKASA.

In 2022, she founded Moonhub, aiming to improve hiring with AI. Unlike traditional recruiting tools that rely on keyword searches, Moonhub’s AI scans billions of data points from platforms like LinkedIn, GitHub, and Google Scholar to identify qualified candidates.

The startup has seen remarkable success:

• Secured over $14M in funding from investors like Khosla Ventures, GV (Google Ventures), and Marc Benioff.
• Surpassed $1M in revenue in its first year.
• Used by 100+ companies, including AI unicorns like Inflection and Anthropic.

Beyond Moonhub, Xu is an active investor through Xu Ventures, backing early-stage AI startups shaping the future of work. Her contributions to AI and the recruiting industry have earned her a spot on TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI (2023).

My fave quote from Xu:

“One of the biggest gifts that I've been given is access to opportunity. I believe that one of the best things and the greatest gifts you can give to anyone on this planet is access to opportunity.”