Former head of Google’s Next Billion initiative invests in Indian HRtech firm

India-based talent management platform Skillr announced it has raised an undisclosed sum as part of a new financing round from Caesar Sengupta, former head of Google’s Next Billion Users initiative.

Caesar Sengupta speaking at TIASG2016

Skillr helps organizations build their customer-facing teams by providing them with assessment services and identifying areas for improvement as well as the development of their existing employees’ career growth paths.

The funding comes after Sengupta exited Google’s Next Billion unit after a 15-year stint in the company. The Next Billion initiative is aimed at making the internet and digital services more accessible to users in developing markets.

“I remember, clear as day, your phone call in 2017 to tell me you want to support our mission at Leap Skills,” Megha Aggarwal, CEO of Leap Skills, addressed Sengupta in a LinkedIn post. “That marathon working session at your home in Singapore last January shaped Skillr into what it is today: future-looking, user centric, agile, ambitious, focused, and fearless.”

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Sengupta led several of Google’s investments in companies that include Gojek, the India-based Glance, Dunzo, and Reliance. He also contributed in building company initiatives such as the Chrome OS, Google Pay, and Next Billion Users, among others, and he expects that an additional billion people will start using the internet for the first time by 2025.

Currently, Skillr engages about 2,000 recruiters with a demand for employees in the fields of IT, marketing, financial, healthcare, and software-based industries.