Belong Raises $10 Mn Series B Funding Led By Sequoia Capital India, Launches New Hiring Solution

Bengaluru-based recruitment startup Belong has raised $10 Mn in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital India, with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners India.

The newly raised capital will be used to accelerate product development, expand sales and support operations, and hire new talent across engineering, data science, enterprise sales and customer success.

With this move, Gautam Mago, Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors, has joined the board of directors.

Founded in 2014 by Exotel co-founder Vijay Sharma (CEO and co-founder), Sudheendra Chilappagari (co-founder & Head of Product), Saiteja Veera (co-founder), and Rishabh Kaul (co-founder), Belong provides outbound hiring Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution to companies.

The startup relies on big data to aggregate the right fit candidates for companies from hundreds of public and social sources. Its clientele includes the likes of Cisco, Amazon, UHG, Tesco, Reliance Jio, and ThoughtWorks.

Belong helps businesses discover and target high-fit talent, engage candidates through personalised interactions, and accelerate hiring cycles at scale.

Commenting on the investment, Gautam Mago, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors said, “The team at Belong has demonstrated a relentless passion towards building a differentiated product that helps enterprises and growing companies alike in their toughest hiring challenges. In a world where companies need to respond to market realities quickly, Belong’s AI-driven outbound approach to helping businesses discover and hire top talent is a step in the right direction.”

Apart from the fundraise, Belong has also launched a new hiring solution – ‘Belong Experts.’

It is a platform-based solution that connects employers to a verified network of independent talent experts for start-to-finish hiring support.

“As companies look to scale and recruit competitive talent, hiring expertise and speed have become crucial for success. By combining the power of the Belong platform with dedicated support from domain-specific talent experts, we are offering companies exactly that,” said Vijay Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Belong.

In June 2015, Belong raised over $5 Mn in Series A round of funding from Matrix Partners, Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Blume Ventures, among others.

The online HR space has had an interesting year. In June 2016, LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 Bn, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. In July 2016, online classifieds platform Quikr, acquired online recruitment firm Hiree, focussed on white collar jobs. In August 2016, Randstad Holding nv a leading HR services provider acquired job portal Monster Worldwide for the purchase price of approximately $429 Mn.

As per an India Skills Report, the average increase in hiring intent is about 7%-10%, compared to last year. In the Indian recruitment scenario, traditional players like Naukri, Shine etc., have been dominant and have had a major market share, so far.

However, in the last couple of years, a lot of new companies have come up to clinch a chunk of the online recruitment pie. Other startups in this segment include Talview, Babajob, and Aasaanjobs, among others.

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