Recruitment Startup Apna Bags $8 Mn To Help Grey, Blue-Collar Workers

Recruitment startup for grey and blue-collar workers Apna has raised $8 Mn in Series A funding round from Greenoaks Capital and Rocketship VC. Existing investors Lightspeed India and Sequoia Capital India also participated in the round.

Apna has currently marked its presence across five cities and will use this funding to test new markets and launch in multiple cities every month. A part of the fund will also be used to hire talent for leadership positions and broaden its user base to more blue and grey collar verticals.
Besides this, the company will also use this capital to expand its product offering to incorporate learning new skills, earning credentials, launching their own new businesses.

“With a world-class team comprising talent from top companies such as Apple, LinkedIn and Grab, Apna is building to create value for its users in India and beyond. Apna believes it is serving a burning need that’s relevant globally including in emerging and established markets like South East Asia and the US, where millions of workers have lost jobs in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic,” the company said in its press statement.

Apna was founded in December 2019 by Nirmit Parikh to offer a professional network of grey and blue-collar workers. The app comprises vertical communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, field sales agents and many others, where users get access to local job opportunities, network with peers, share their accomplishments and gain new skills.

Since its launch, the platform has been able to attract 1.2 Mn users engaging on its platform. In the last 30 days, the company claims to have facilitated more than 1 Mn job interviews, growing more than 3X month-on-month. The company, in its press statement, also highlighted the more than 3 Mn professional conversations have happened on the platform in this same period.

Harshjit Sethi, Principal at Sequoia Capital India LLP added, “There are over 250 million blue and grey collar workers in India at present and providing meaningful employment opportunities to this segment is one of the biggest challenges in our country. With internet usage in this demographic growing rapidly, further catalysed by the Jio effect, apps such as Apna can play a meaningful role in democratizing access to employment and skilling.”

The development comes after global tech giant Google announced that it will launch its entry-level job search platform Kormo Jobs Android app in India to target temporary jobs, gig economy workers or any business which has a high workforce requirement. With this, Google Jobs Spot, which was launched in India last year, will also be rebranded to Kormo Jobs to create a consistent experience for users.