Recruitment startup TribeHired acquires Thai counterpart to grow its reach in Bangkok

Photo credit: TribeHired.

Lest you think this week’s developments are all about Pokemon Go, here’s one that’s not related to pocket monsters in any way. Hiring platform TribeHired today announced it has bought Thailand’s HubbaHired for an undisclosed amount.

According to TribeHired CEO and co-founder Devan Singaram, the deal consists of cash and equity. He does not offer more information on this.

HubbaHired places a recruiter on-site with the employer to help speed up the hiring process.

TribeHired sprung out of JFDI’s inaugural cohort and then established its position as an online recruitment service for startups in Malaysia. Now it’s available in four cities in the region: Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, and Bangkok. The startup is helping employers find the right candidates by providing an extensive curation service and promising speedy hires.

HubbaHired, the recruitment arm of Thailand-based co-working space and startup network Hubba, grew out of a three-month acceleration stint. Its unique offering is called “talent acquisition as a service,” which places a recruiter on-site with the employer to help speed up the hiring process.

This was one of the reasons why HubbaHired was attractive to TribeHired, Devan tells Tech in Asia. The other was the Thai company’s rapid growth. “Recruitment is a tough business, it’s all about placement,” he says.

HubbaHired increased its placements at a rate of 300 percent within three months, according to TribeHired, and that got their attention. “And they did it without TribeHired technology to back them up,” Devan adds.

Culture fit

Hubba Group CEO Amarit Charoenphan tells Tech in Asia that the two companies share a similar culture. “I have known Devan for over two years and watched his business grow from strength to strength,” he says. “I have never seen someone so technical yet completely focused on achieving his vision of helping companies find the best talent.”

The acquisition made sense for Hubba financially and strategically, Amarit adds.

TribeHired landed in Bangkok earlier this year without too much noise. By bringing the HubbaHired team into the fold, it hopes to leverage Hubba’s network in the Thai ecosystem to reach out to more talent. The HubbaHired team and brand will be integrated into its new parent.

See: TribeHired wants to fix the tech recruiting process in Asia

The company hopes to expand to two more cities in the next two months, but Devan doesn’t provide more details. It claims to get one candidate hired every working day, which drives its revenue growth. Devan doesn’t share more figures on the company’s traction.

TribeHired raised a seed round worth US$560,000 in 2013 by Singapore-based TNF Ventures. Devan tells Tech in Asia that the startup raised additional funding early this year, but declines to give more information, except that “further details will be available later.”