NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / September 11, 2025 / The New York-based tech company HuCapital has launched the private beta version of its AI-powered professional social network, following a successful non-equity community-backed crowdfunding campaign that raised $26,000. Founded by Jerlisa "Juju" Fontaine, the platform evolved from a series of in-person grassroots events into a sophisticated, tech-driven experience that aims to redefine how professionals meet, network, and stay connected.
A Virtual World Built From a Real-World Community
While many big companies have the same stuffy origin story, HuCapital's launch ditched the boardroom setting and focused on networking events around New York City. Fontaine and her team were responsible for curating these professional gatherings that hosted upwards of 600 attendees. In two years, the events amassed a 10,000-member community of industry leaders and founders.
Mixers can be fun, but not if they don't lead to actual connections. Fontaine wanted her events to genuinely help people grow their careers, find collaborators, and take those intros beyond social media followers and turn them into actionable career and business outcomes.
With that goal in mind, Fontaine was inspired to design a new professional network that avoids the performative aimlessness of sites like LinkedIn. Does it look good if you have over 1,000 LinkedIn connections? Of course, but what's the point of numbers without substance?
The team at HuCapital decided to take matters into their own hands to address the lack of follow-through following connections cultivated through other networking sites. That became the company's founding premise.
Introducing Huey: HuCapital's AI Superconnector
Follow-through may not be everyone's strong suit, but Huey, HuCapital's omnipresent AI engine, ensures users get the job done. How? By making introductions that encourage professionals to turn phantom likes into in-person meetings, resource sharing, and staying in touch after the awkward pseudo business card exchange.
Huey's multi-phase process, which is being progressively rolled out from July to September, includes initiating meaningful contact, recommending ways to meet offline, triggering personalized follow-ups, and presenting customized advice designed to meet each individual's industry-specific needs. These connections can happen at several levels, from recommending relevant professionals based on shared interests, to facilitating 1:1 introductions, to arranging small group matches of three to four people.
Molding Networking Events Into an AI-Driven Formula
Fontaine left her six-figure product management job to launch HuCapital full-time. Her varied experience in healthcare, software, and community organizing allowed her to tap into the needs of multiple industries while using her multifaceted background to carry out her vision.
Given that the pandemic played a role in Fontaine's first startup, MilleniVision, shutting down, she had first-hand experience with the limitations of existing platforms. Through live events and corporate partnerships with Toast, Equitable, Northwestern Mutual, and organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, HuCapital secured nearly $100,000 in revenue before launching the product.
What's Next for HuCapital?
Like any startup, HuCapital has both immediate and long-term goals. First things first: The company is focused on onboarding New York users. HuCapital has a goal for 2026: to build a B2B system that enables professional organizations to utilize the brand's technology to manage and connect their own communities. This year, they are focusing on ensuring that everyday creators, builders, and professionals get everything they need from the platform first.
HuCapital is working to expand its waitlist and refine the platform based on early user feedback. Fontaine wants people to know that HuCapital is building more than a social network; it's developing a system for genuine professional connection and collaboration during a time when digital relationships rarely provide results, and often these relationships don't last.
The company prides itself on focusing on follow-through because it wants its platform to facilitate these warm introductions online, while also encouraging people to meet in real life (IRL), as relationships that transition into IRL ones tend to be the strongest and longest-lasting. This approach is particularly effective.
Interested users can join the waitlist through the HuCapital website at hucapital.co.
About HuCapital: HuCapital is a professional social network for builders, creators, and multi-hyphenate professionals seeking hyper-personalized online connections that translate into lasting, in-person relationships; all powered by its AI engine, Huey. The New York City-based company focuses on community, follow-through, and personalized support to encourage collaboration and growth in every industry.
Media Details
Website URL: https://www.hucapital.co/
Company Name: Hu Capital
Email address: Info@hucapital.co
Country: USA
SOURCE: Hu Capital
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