🇮🇳 Roundup: Apna to hire 400 people in next 6 months, and more

Startups including Uni, Juspay, Nestasia, MoEVing, Practically, and TagMango have collectively raised at least US$145.5 million today in disclosed funding from international and local investors.

Here’s a snapshot of fundraising:

Here’s some important tech news in India today:

Tiger-backed Apna to double its team size in next six months

The Tiger Global-backed jobs-and-professional-networking firm will hire more than 400 employees across verticals in the next six months.

Out of the total, 65% of the new hiring will focus on engineering, data science, and product teams. The company said it will recruit talent from renowned educational institutes in India, including the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management, and Indian School of Business.

Apna, which became a unicorn in September this year, has more than 16 million users, over 150,000 employer partners, and operates in more than 40 cities across India. Since its inception, it has facilitated more than 18 million interviews.

Fintech-focused VC firm raised US$18.3 million in final close of fund

Varanium NexGen Fund plans to invest into 14 to 18 startups, out of which it has already invested in five startups and has made commitments to three more startups.

The investors in the fund include veterans from the fintech domain, family offices, financial institutions, professionals, and entrepreneurs including former CEOs and CXOs of banks.

It’s portfolio includes fintech firm for homebuyers Homecapital, insurtech platform Riskcovry, and fraud risk monitoring for payment firm Dronapay.

Plum teams up with Razorpay Rize

Insurtech startup Plum has partnered with Razorpay Rize, a launchpad for first-time entrepreneurs, to provide exclusive group health benefits to founders on the latter’s platform.

Plum aims to cover more than 100,000 businesses and entrepreneurs with the new initiative. The startup noted that many early-stage entrepreneurs miss out on their existing health benefits when they leave their jobs and begin their entrepreneurial journey.