Blue Collar Staffing Platform Smartstaff Raises Funding From Persol Group

SUMMARY

This investment coincides with Persol's strategic focus on India as a key market

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised a total of $10.5 Mn in funding till now

Earlier in June, Smartstaff secured $6.2 Mn in a Series A funding

Blue-collar staffing platform Smartstaff has received a strategic investment from Persol, a human resources service provider in the APAC region.

This investment coincides with Persol’s strategic focus on India as a key market, with Smartstaff offering a full-stack approach to staffing, recruitment, management, and retention within this market.

“Smartstaff’s focus on building a full stack innovative model, proprietary technology and inroads into the Indian market has led us to back them. The team comes with strong backgrounds in building companies to scale. At Persol we are excited to work together with Smartstaff to become a prominent leader in the blue-collar staffing solutions space in India,” Shingo Ishida, partner and head of APAC, Persol Group, said.

Founded in 2021 by Arpit Dave, Viral Chhajer, Gnanesh Chilukuri and Aravind Reddy, Smartstaff offers end-to-end solutions for recruitment, workforce management and retention to mid-sized and large manufacturing enterprises. Besides staffing solutions, it also provides payroll and compliance services to its clients.

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised a total of $10.5 Mn in funding till now and counts Nexus Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, Arkam Ventures and Alteria Capital as its investors.

Earlier in June, Smartstaff secured $6.2 Mn in a Series A funding round from Nexus Ventures, Arkam Ventures, Blume Ventures and Alteria Capital.

“Persol Group has considerable experience in the staffing solutions space and we are delighted to have their support in offering cutting-edge solutions to the industry in India. We are looking forward to creating a much bigger impact on a nation-wide scale in India,” Arpit Dave, cofounder and CEO of Smartstaff, said.

Smartstaff competes with the likes of KarmaLife, WorkIndia, BetterPlace, Apna and PerkFinance across its verticals. Financial solutions provider KarmaLife, and blue and grey-collar job portal WorkIndia also raised funding this year. However, Apna is struggling with mounting losses as it reported 4X year-on-year growth in loss to INR 112.5 Cr in FY22.