Tiger Global-led $100m round catapults Indian jobs startup into unicorn club

Apna, an India-based jobs and professional network platform, announced that it has secured about US$100 million in a series C funding round led by Tiger Global.

Apna founder and CEO Nirmit Parikh / Photo credit: Apna

The round also saw participation from Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Maverick Ventures, and GSV Ventures. With this fundraise, Apna’s valuation has grown to US$1.1 billion, making it the latest Indian startup to enter the unicorn club this year. The country has seen over 24 startups achieve unicorn status in 2021 alone.

With the fresh funds, Apna said that it is committed to serve the next billion users by giving them the tools to upskill and connecting them with the right opportunities.

“We are also looking towards raising our capabilities with enhanced product and pan-India expansion by the year-end. The team will further boost the edtech and skilling programs on the platform by continuing to invest in hiring exceptional talent to build world-class engineering and product capabilities,” Nirmit Parikh, Apna’s founder and CEO, told Tech in Asia.

The company will also venture into newer markets such as the US, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Africa starting 2022, he added.

Founded in 2019, Apna leverages an algorithm that matches candidates with employers, taking into account their skills, experiences, and preferences. The app has over 70 communities for skilled professionals such as carpenters, painters, telecallers, field sales agents, and delivery personnel, making it a LinkedIn-like platform for gig workers.

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Apna has secured more than US$190 million from marquee investors to date and raised US$70 million at a valuation of US$570 million in June. The startup said that it has grown 125x over the past 15 months and is currently conducting 18 million interviews each month.

Among the companies that use Apna’s platform to address their critical hiring needs are Zomato, Urban Company, Byju’s, PhonePe, Burger King, Delhivery, and Teamlease.