Ex-con founder launches AI job platform for ex-cons — SkimNews
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- Richard Bronson was a partner at Stratton Oakmont in the 1980s before leaving to build a $100 million firm taking small-cap companies public, ultimately serving federal prison time for securities law violations.
- Commissary Club uses AI to help ex-cons navigate job searches, housing, and benefits access, with the first 10 applications free and subsequent batches priced at $149 for 10 ($14.99 each).
- The platform also includes social networking and dating features — what Bronson called 'Facebook for ex-cons' — designed to address the isolation he experienced after prison, when he was 'completely radioactive' to employers.
- Co-founder Roman Kissin previously worked at eBay and IBM and served as CTO of LexisNexis from 2022 to 2025, per his LinkedIn profile.
- Commissary Club was selected for TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 200, the publication's flagship startup competition.
- Bronson framed the venture as a for-profit 'win-win' rather than a nonprofit, saying the ex-con market is 'huge' and that 'nobody' currently serves it with AI-built employment tools.
Why it matters: Bronson is betting a paid AI service can sustain a business while serving ex-cons that mainstream employers and tech platforms have largely ignored. His for-profit model — $14.99 per application after the first 10 free — directly contrasts with the nonprofit reentry assistance that typically supports this population, putting the startup's mission claims under immediate commercial pressure.
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