These kinds of things happen to those who are willing to do business.
I say this because everything started six months ago when I first spoke with Sofía Castillo, Co-Founder of Simera. Her first LinkedIn message was simple and direct:
“We share a mission similar to Interfell’s and I’d love to have a call with you. We’re looking for partners.”
LinkedIn is full of salespeople — and often spam. If you’re reading this, you probably have hundreds of messages in your inbox offering products, services, deals, and proposals. The funny thing is, if I hadn’t replied to that message, I probably wouldn’t be telling this success story today.
That leads me to my first takeaway: you need to stay open to business opportunities. Take the time to listen to those knocking on your door. Many times, what they offer won’t be what you expect or even what you need. But behind ten irrelevant pitches, there might be one that could change your life — and the lives of many others.
The Journey That Brought Us Here
Interfell was founded in Mérida, Venezuela, nine years ago — in September 2016. Those who know Venezuela’s story understand that between 2014 and 2017 the country went through one of the most difficult periods in its modern history. Streets full of protests, nearly on the verge of civil war. That very context pushed Juanma Rodriguez, Aurora Pérez Paz, and me to create Interfell.
Ironically, those same challenges, unstable internet, power outages, transportation difficulties, became the fuel that pushed us forward. We wanted to build a protective circle for ourselves and our families. The solution? Create an international business that wasn’t dependent on the local economy.
That’s how it started. Our first remote talent contracts came by exporting Venezuelan tech professionals to Costa Rica. That experience taught us what it really means to hire and operate remotely: strong recruitment processes, cultural alignment, time zone coordination, digital operations, performance measurement and the list goes on.
Step by step, with the crucial leadership of Andrea Pérez Rivas and Venesia Guillen, we grew the company. We expanded into Chile (Prodigio, Inmetrics, Ionix), Uruguay (Litermi), Colombia (Epayco by Davivienda), and later Spain (The Power MBA). Over the years, Interfell became a regional leader in remote tech talent solutions, recruiting, and staffing.
Simera was born with a bold ambition: to transform how companies source and hire talent globally through scalable technology.
Founders Panos Bethanis and Said Hassan, along with the Simera team, understood the market needed more than just another platform, it needed real bridges between companies and candidates, helping decision makers save time and enabling talent to access better opportunities.
They built AI-driven technology capable of analyzing massive candidate data, video interviews, assessments, CVs, and other signals, to reduce what used to take weeks into just hours. This freed talent acquisition teams from repetitive tasks, letting them focus on what truly matters: making the right hiring decisions.
From day one, Simera aimed for a global footprint. Their vision wasn’t just tech; it was deep empathy for both recruiters and job seekers. That understanding allowed them to refine their platform continuously and that’s how the Simera + Interfell opportunity was born.
The Strategic Fit
Interfell’s Perspective
We had received multiple acquisition offers before, but none felt right. Either something didn’t align, or the investors pulled back.
Simera was different. From the first analysis, we saw cultural and technological synergy:
- Integrating Simera’s AI to accelerate screening, increase accuracy, and empower clients with faster, better-informed decisions made an immediate operational impact.
- By combining their tech with our recruiting expertise, we built AI-powered candidate shortlists, continuous re-ranking, smart scorecards, and structured interviews. Our response times improved dramatically and while we’re still fine-tuning some areas, the efficiency gains were almost instant.
- On a strategic level, joining forces with a global-scale team opened new markets, the Middle East, the U.S., and Asia.
- And most importantly, there was a perfect cultural match. The Simera team shares our mindset, values, and remote work philosophy. Collaboration has been natural and frictionless.
Simera’s Perspective
For Simera, aiming to become the global leader in remote talent, several factors made Interfell the right fit:
- LATAM expertise & market reach — Interfell’s brand, clients, and talent pool strengthened Simera’s global candidate marketplace.
- Immediate operational efficiencies — Our expertise filled gaps where AI-driven optimization was needed.
- Deep IT recruiting know-how — Interfell’s proven track record in complex software engineering roles expanded Simera’s industry coverage.
- Leadership trust — Confidence in Interfell’s leadership to help evolve Simera’s product and lead strategic acquisitions globally.
The Integrated Solution: Interfell Professional Key (IPK)
One of the first joint outcomes was the Interfell Professional Key (IPK) — a standardized candidate profile that gives hiring managers everything they need at a glance:
- AI-powered scorecards
- Work samples & technical tests
- Structured interview insights
- Ranking and decision support
Simera provides the intelligence and data analysis, while Interfell adds human expertise and quality control.
Why it’s powerful:
- Real speed: AI shortlists and continuous re-ranking mean managers get ready-to-hire candidate packs fast.
- Consistency & depth: Structured evaluation reduces bias and creates fair comparisons.
- Better hiring outcomes: A unified assessment framework predicts success in the role more accurately.
The New Workflow
Before:
Manual sourcing → endless CV review → unstructured interviews → bottlenecks.
Now:
AI-powered sourcing (Simera) → automatic shortlist → IPK with tangible evidence → structured interviews → faster, clearer decisions.
The system is faster, smarter, and still deeply human where it matters most.
What’s Next
For Interfell, the mission is clear:
- Keep driving operational efficiency with Simera’s tech.
- Shorten hiring times even more.
- Deliver higher-quality hires to our clients.
- Increase placement success rates in a competitive market.
We’re also doubling down on product development, led by James Slavet, Chief Product Officer and Juanma Rodríguez, Interfell’s Co-Founder, now SVP of Product at Simera, making the platform more intuitive, business-driven, and client-friendly.
In parallel, we’ll continue our global acquisition strategy. As Chief Strategy Officer of Simera, I’m focused on finding companies that bring:
- Expertise in a specific vertical
- Regional influence and talent access
- And, above all, a cultural fit that ensures seamless integration
Simera remains committed to building the world’s most powerful talent data technology and expanding its global marketplace for validated talent.
Let’s Build Together
As I said at the start — we’re Open for Business.
If you want to learn more about Simera’s technology, the Interfell Professional Key, or how this can transform your hiring process — or if you run a remote staffing or recruiting company anywhere in the world and believe your vision could scale with cutting-edge AI and a global, ambitious team — we’d love to connect.
We’re growing fast and looking for partners who share our vision. Stay tuned.
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