# David Paffenholz

> David Paffenholz is the German co-founder and CEO of Juicebox, a San Francisco-based AI recruiting platform founded with Ishan Gupta in 2022. A Harvard economics graduate and former Snap growth employee, he moved from consumer apps and a recruiting marketplace to natural-language talent search. Juicebox announced an $80 million Series B in March 2026 and a London office in September 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Juicebox
- **Organizations:** Juicebox, Snap Inc., New Enterprise Associates, Moonfare, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Completed Harvard in three academic years and served as an economics teaching fellow., Co-founded Juicebox, a Y Combinator S22 company., Juicebox reached $10 million ARR and 2,500 customers by September 2025, according to Sequoia.

## Career timeline

- **2020-2021** — Worked on international growth at Snap; an initial three-month internship extended to almost a year.
- **Before 2022** — Held positions at New Enterprise Associates and Moonfare; built consumer apps with Ishan Gupta.
- **2022** — Co-founded Juicebox with Ishan Gupta and participated in Y Combinator Summer 2022.
- **2023** — Pivoted into the current AI recruiting business around mid-year.
- **2024** — Decided in January to relocate from New York to San Francisco and began building the team there.
- **2025** — Juicebox disclosed $36 million in funding, including a $30 million Sequoia-led Series A and a $6 million seed round.
- **2026** — Juicebox announced an $80 million Series B, its first international office in London, and an agreement to acquire Fetcher’s assets.

## Achievements

- Completed Harvard in three academic years and served as an economics teaching fellow.
- Co-founded Juicebox, a Y Combinator S22 company.
- Juicebox reached $10 million ARR and 2,500 customers by September 2025, according to Sequoia.
- Juicebox reported more than 5,000 recruiting teams using the platform in March 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — On October 6, announced an agreement for Juicebox to acquire Fetcher’s assets as Fetcher retired its platform.
- **2026-09** — On September 30, Juicebox announced its first international office in London’s Soho and plans for more than 50 London employees over the following year.
- **2026-09** — Discussed sourcing strategy, team culture and lessons as a first-time CEO on Knuckle Up with Nakul.
- **2026-03** — On March 10, Juicebox announced an $80 million Series B led by DST Global at an $850 million valuation, bringing disclosed total funding to $116 million.

## Links

- Website: https://juicebox.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-paffenholz/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/davepaffenholz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-paffenholz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23