Google Ventures-backed talent management startup nets $16m in series C round

Sense, a talent engagement and communication platform, has raised US$16 million in its series C financing round led by India-based VC firm Avataar Venture Partners.

Sanjay Dharmani, CEO and co-founder of Sense/ Photo credit: Sense

Existing investors including Accel and Google Ventures also participated in the round.

Along with the new funding, the company has also roped in Sanjay Dharmani, former senior vice president of engineering at InMobi, as the managing director of Sense’s India operations. Nishant Rao, founder of Avataar Venture Partners, will join the board of Sense as well.

Founded in 2015, US-based Sense provides a system of engagement for talent acquisition teams. It enables personalized communication across the entire talent lifecycle at scale and also automates manual tasks for recruiters.

The company has an office in Bengaluru, India with a staff of 57 people. Sense aims to double its headcount in the next six months.

“We see India as a highly strategic market for us. The tech talent in India is very robust and knowledgeable in software-as-a-service solutions,” said Anil Dharni, CEO and co-founder of Sense.

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According to the company, it caters to over 400 customers and staffing agencies – including US-based Kelly Services and Recruit – across several industries. It claims that customers using the Sense platform experience an average 263% increase in screened candidates compared to a manual approach.

Earlier in May 2019, Sense raised US$13.5 million in its series B funding round led by Google Ventures to ramp up research and development and sales operations.