Babajob – A Marketplace For Grey Collar Jobs Has Over 3 Mn Job Seekers Using Its Platform, Lands $10 Mn From SEEK

With the increased impetus of the government to make India job ready, the online recruitment industry is surely expected to do better in coming years.

Human resource experts believe, that job market in 2015 is going to be in a strong hiring mode and companies are preparing themselves for aggressive recruitments across the board.

Interestingly, very few players are targeting informal (grey collar) job sector as their primary market. And, Babajob.com is one of them and just got funded.

Bangalore-based, mobile first job platform Babajob, which is dedicated to bringing better job opportunities to aspiring workers has secured a $10 Mn minority investment from SEEK Limited.

The funding will be utilized to grow team and brand, further develop its mobile apps, and improve its telephony services such as ‘Missed Calls for Jobs’ and ‘RapidHire’ in order to fulfill company’s mission of connecting all Indians to better jobs.

Speaking on the development, Sean Blagsvedt, CEO and Founder of Babajob.com said, “We are excited to find a strong partner in SEEK, who shares our vision of using technology to connect everyone on the planet to better jobs, especially those in emerging markets. We are honored to be their first investment in India and look forward to bringing access to better jobs to every Indian and to helping every employer reliably hire aspiring workers.”

Founded in 2007 by Sean Blagsvedt, Babajob offers better job opportunities to aspiring workers (e.g. delivery staff, office helpers, drivers, cooks, maids, security guards, etc.), by appropriately connecting the right employers and job seekers.

It offers Missed Call for Jobs, a unique and innovative service for those job seekers who are not connected to the Internet. It is basically a IVR navigated system which allows you to register yourself for jobs. The call is returned to collect details and register the person on the portal. While the service is free for job-seekers, it is a paid one for companies looking for labour.

Besides, the platform also drives inbound phone calls from screened candidates to employers in minutes, drastically reducing the inefficiencies of hiring in the informal sector through employer solutions like RapidHire.

Earlier in 2012, the Babajob had raised funding in Series A round led by Gray Ghost Ventures and Khosla Impact. Babajob claims to have over 2.5 Mn listed job openings and 3 Mn job seekers.

SEEK and its affiliate companies are the leading global online employment marketplace, available to approximately 2.6 Bn people across Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, China, Brazil, Mexico, Bangladesh and Africa. The Group encompasses a strong portfolio of employment, education and volunteer businesses.

“Babajob is an exciting opportunity for us. We’ve been very impressed with the capabilities of the management team, and we look forward to assisting them achieve their goal of helping connect more aspiring Indians to jobs,” said SEEK International Corporate Development Director, Ronnie Fink.

Babajob directly competes with another startup called Nanojobs focusing on job-seekers who expect to earn below 20,000 a month. The startup makes money by charging employers instead of those who seek the job – a perplexing and oftentimes confusing scenario for the job-seekers. Jack on the block is yet another startup in this space.