# Simba Jonga

> Simba Jonga is the founder and CEO of Laborup, an AI-powered hiring platform often described as the LinkedIn of manufacturing. A University of Tennessee chemical engineer turned Stanford AI researcher, he built Laborup after watching skilled machinists, welders and technicians struggle to get hired despite working inside high-tech factories. The platform uses an autonomous AI voice agent to interview and vet workers, building profiles in minutes and matching them to high-paying industrial jobs. Laborup has raised $7.7M from investors including NVP, Torch Capital and angels Jeff Dean, Jeff Jordan and Evan Moore, grown a 25,000-strong East Tennessee worker network, and is expanding across the South and Midwest.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Laborup
- **Organizations:** Laborup, Stanford University (HAI, Hoover Institution), University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- **Education:** B.S. in Chemical Engineering, minor in Economics; 2022 Torchbearer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence (on leave of absence), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Laborup, an AI hiring platform for skilled industrial labor., Raised $7.7M in venture funding ($1.94M pre-seed, $5.8M seed) from NVP, Torch Capital, Threshold Ventures, Westbound, Daybreak, Heartland and Market Square Ventures., Attracted angel investment from Jeff Dean (Google DeepMind), Jeff Jordan (Andreessen Horowitz), Evan Moore (DoorDash) and James Slavet (Greylock).

## Career timeline

- **2019** — Meets future co-founder Logan O'Neal through the Haslam College of Business at UT Knoxville.
- **2020-2022** — Works as a manufacturing engineer with Bayer AG, Dow Chemical and in automotive manufacturing during his undergraduate years.
- **2022** — Graduates from UT Knoxville in chemical engineering; named a UT Torchbearer.
- **2022** — Begins graduate study of AI at Stanford, working with the Hoover Institution and Stanford HAI.
- **2023** — Starts building Laborup part-time in October after talking to manufacturers about three-month hiring bottlenecks.
- **2024** — Launches Laborup; co-founds with Logan O'Neal; raises $1.94M pre-seed.
- **2024** — Reaches 10,000+ active manufacturing workers in the Knoxville MSA - roughly one in five in the region.
- **2025** — Closes $5.8M seed round led by NVP (June 2025), bringing total funding to $7.7M; opens Nashville engineering office.

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Laborup, an AI hiring platform for skilled industrial labor.
- Raised $7.7M in venture funding ($1.94M pre-seed, $5.8M seed) from NVP, Torch Capital, Threshold Ventures, Westbound, Daybreak, Heartland and Market Square Ventures.
- Attracted angel investment from Jeff Dean (Google DeepMind), Jeff Jordan (Andreessen Horowitz), Evan Moore (DoorDash) and James Slavet (Greylock).
- Grew Laborup's East Tennessee worker network to 25,000+, with one in five Knoxville-area manufacturing workers active on the platform.
- Delivered customer results of 10x faster hiring, 50%+ lower cost and 3x better retention, with an average 20% wage bump for workers.
- Named a 2022 University of Tennessee Torchbearer, the school's highest student honor.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Closed a $5.8M seed round led by NVP, bringing Laborup's total funding to $7.7M.
- **2025** — Opened a Nashville product-engineering office at Pinnacle at Symphony Place while keeping Knoxville as the sales hub; planning expansion into Alabama, Georgia and Ohio.
- **2025** — Rolled out an AI voice agent that interviews workers and builds profiles automatically, scaling the East Tennessee network past 25,000 workers.

## Links

- Website: https://laborup.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasimbajonga/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOJJRStiF37/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laborup.us/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/simba-jonga
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21