Exclusive: HRtech Startup BetterPlace To Raise INR 73 Cr From Jungle Ventures & Others

BetterPlace, a Bengaluru-based lifecycle management startup for the blue-collar workforce, is looking to raise INR 73.7 Cr from several investors. 

According to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) accessed by Inc42, the company is issuing 91,009 Series B Cumulative Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCCPS) at a face value of INR 100 per share and an issue price of INR 8,107 per share, aggregating to a total amount of INR 73,78,09,963 to a clutch of entities. 

The company is issuing 40,488 shares to Jungle Ventures III Investment Holding; 27,194 shares to Unitus Seed Fund India II; and 12,688 shares to 3one4 Continuum I. The remaining shares have been allotted to VH Capital and two other funds of 3one4 Capital. 

3one4 Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Bengaluru, is a previous investor in BetterPlace, having led the company’s Series A round in 2018 when it raised $3 Mn. Among the recent investors to whom shares have been allotted, Unitus Ventures and VH Capital (also known as Venture Highway) have also been previous investors in BetterPlace. 

Founded in 2015 by Pravin Agarwala and Uday Singh, BetterPlace initially worked as a background verification company. However, the company soon realised the need for an enabler to bridge the existing demand and supply gap in the ecosystem. 

While employers are looking for the right skills and talent, workers are struggling with low salaries due to lack of proper skills.

BetterPlace thus moved to the B2B2C business model and created a digital platform to enable the entire ecosystem. They now provide employee lifecycle management services like onboarding, background verification, training, and certification, as well as attendance management, while helping employees get re-skilled. 

They also help employees avail financial services like loans, insurance, etc, using their proprietary trust scoring.

The Blue-Collar workforce management is a growing sector in the Indian economy owing to increasing urbanisation and deeper penetration of the Internet as well as digital modes of content consumption. 

This is also due to a demarcation between the existing players owing to the price-sensitive Indian population.

While a few like QuikrJobs, LinkedIn, Just Jobs, Aasaan Jobs, OLX Jobs, Nano Jobs, etc cater to the B2C segment, startups like BetterPlace are making the road easy for the B2B segment by entering the Human Resources (HR) tech segment.

The upsurge in the demand for blue-collar workforce also pulled in players like LinkedIn. In 2017, the Microsoft-owned company partnered with IL&FS Skills Development to help upskill blue-collar workers and job seekers in the country and improve their employability. Talview and Zimyo are a couple of other Indian startups engaged in the HRtech segment.