India-based job platform Apna has become the youngest startup to join the growing list of unicorns in the country after raising $100 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global Management.
The new funding has come just after three months the startup raised $70 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners. With this, Apna has raised its valuation to $1.1 billion.
Other investors that participated in the new funding round include Insight Partners, Owl Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, GSV Ventures, and Maverick Ventures. Apna plans to use the fresh funding to build up its presence in the existing 28 cities and expand across India by this year-end.
Apna also plans to grow its EdTech platform for skilling and will invest in hiring extraordinary talent. The startup also plans to form a global enterprise by setting out into new markets such as the Middle East and Africa, South East Asia, and the United States by next year.
Over the last 15 months the startup has grown 125x and is currently steering 18 million interviews per month.
Apna’s Founder and CEO, Nirmit Parikh, said, “Apna has a deep social purpose, and is committed to discovery and creation of opportunities to enhance a billion livelihoods, across geographies. With the continued support of our partners, we aim to accelerate our journey of ‘solving for the world’.”
About Apna
Founded in 2019 by Nirmit Parikh, the platform is dedicated to help India’s rising workforce to unlock unique skilling opportunities and professional networking.
The job platform works on a sophisticated algorithm that matches the candidates with employers based on their skills, preferences, and experiences. Apna’s app also consists of more than 70 communities for skilled professionals like telecallers, painters, carpenters, delivery personnel, field sales agents, and others.
Apna communities have empowered users to grow their professional network, find job opportunities, and upskill through peer learning. The startup claims that last month they have enabled 17 million peer-to-peer professional conversations.
Numerous companies such as Bharti AXA, Urban Company, Zomato, PhonePe, Byju’s, Delhivery, Burger King, G4S Global, and Teamlease depend on Apna for their hiring needs. In less than two years Apna through its app has facilitated about 100 million interviews.
With more than 10 million users spread across 28 cities and more than 150,000 employers that trust the platform, Apna has become a new destination for the country’s workforce to look for relevant opportunities.
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