Meet The HR Tech Startups Modernising India’s Back Offices

HR tech saw its big moment when the pandemic shook the world in 2020. Companies worldwide were suddenly forced to contend with the new normal of remote working, and HR tech stepped into to solve the gaps.

Managing human resources became a headache for companies as everything from hiring to workforce management went online. To rescue organisations from the state of confusion and chaos, HR tech platforms arrived in droves in India and around the world.

While several HR tech startups already had a presence in India and overseas before the pandemic, that was an inflection point, and the opportunity has since then grown beyond just payroll management. 

Notably, as per a report by Xpheno, about 20% of total job postings in the country today (in 2024) comprise hybrid and remote roles, which is an increase from 0.9% in 2020. The IT and technology sector is leading in adopting the hybrid and remote working mode of working. This increase in the number of remote and hybrid roles has contributed to the spurt in the adoption of HR tech tools.

Indian HR tech startups seem to have struck a chord with enterprises, so much so that they have become a must-have for organisations of all sizes.

The cherry on the cake appears to be the rise of GenAI, which has further streamlined and almost reshaped how Indian companies handle their HR operations with tailored offerings. 

Besides, these tech-based solutions are playing a crucial role in employee engagement and scaling their productivity. Additionally, HR tech tools are helping businesses across sectors proactively predict trends and gather insights to enhance employee experience. 

As of now, investors are cognisant of the rise in the demand for efficient HR solutions. A testament to this growth is the fact that Indian HR tech startups have raised hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the biggest investors in the country in the past few years. 

While it remains to be seen how this ecosystem will transform India Inc, we have collated a list of the Indian HR tech platforms shaping today’s workforce for tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: This is neither an exhaustive list nor a ranking of any kind. We have listed the Indian HR tech startups alphabetically.

Belong.co

Founded in 2014 by Vijay Sharma, Rishabh Kaul, and Sudheendra Chilappagari, Belong.co aims to transform how companies find and engage top talent. 

Led by Exotel’s former CEO Vijay Sharma, the machine learning-capable platform offers data-driven outbound hiring solutions. The platform scans profiles of individuals across over 90 professional networks, communities and forums, assessing education, career trajectory, skills and online activity to find the right fit for organisations.

Belong also helps clients understand what worked for them in earlier cases, analysing their employee data to highlight hiring patterns that lead to successful matches. 

The platform has grown significantly since its Series A funding in 2015, doubling its mid-market and enterprise customers. Belong now serves major tech companies including Cisco, Amazon, UHG, Tesco, Reliance Jio, and ThoughtWorks. 

In FY23, Belong reported $3.4 Mn in revenue. The company’s focus on high-level roles has positioned it as a top choice for companies looking to secure talent for critical functions.

Betterplace

Founded in 2015 by Pravin Agarwala, Uday Singh, and Saurabh Tandon, BetterPlace streamlines HR functions via a unified, data-driven platform. 

From talent acquisition and onboarding to background verification, attendance tracking, and payroll processing, BetterPlace consolidates key HR tasks into a single interface, offering actionable insights for workforce management.

Serving over 1,500 businesses across 500 locations in APAC, India, and GCC, BetterPlace garnered INR 523 Cr in FY23, up from INR 275 Cr in FY22. 

Backed by investors, including Jungle Ventures, British International Investment, and newer additions like Macquarie Capital and SITE Capital Partners, BetterPlace has raised a total of $90 Mn in funding to date.

In 2023, the Bengaluru-headquartered HR tech startup expanded into the UAE and Southeast Asia, acquired HR tech firms Troopers and MyRobin, and partnered with Microsoft to enhance its tech capabilities.

Cutshort

Founded in 2015 by Nikunj Verma and Anubhav Gupta, Cutshort is a Pune-based HRTech platform that simplifies tech hiring for companies and job seekers alike. 

With a focus on fast and reliable talent matching, Cutshort’s platform allows employers to find suitable candidates within minutes. The platform includes a trust score feature to verify candidate reliability and integrates with partner networks to expand the talent pool.

Using algorithmic matching and AI-based recommendations, Cutshort connects companies with the best-fit tech talent. 

Backed by investor Venkata Ramana Chennamadhavuni, Cutshort has helped over 25,000 recruiters fill more than 15,000 roles. The company counts the likes of Porter, MyGlamm, Caratlane, and GoKwik as its customers.

DarwinBox

Darwinbox is a Hyderabad-based cloud HR technology platform that provides comprehensive solutions for recruitment, onboarding, payroll, travel, and people analytics. 

Incorporated in 2015 by Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti, and Rohit Chennamaneni, it became a unicorn in 2022.

Darwinbox’s cloud-based HRMS platform supports essential HR functions, including core HR, payroll, recruitment, performance management, and employee engagement. Recent enhancements to the platform include Vibe, an internal social network, a universal search bar for faster information retrieval, and an objectives and key results (OKR) framework for streamlined goal setting and performance tracking.

With $140 Mn in funding from investors like Technology Crossover Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Peak XV Partners, the HR tech startup now serves over 700 companies across seven countries. It counts Swiggy, Big Basket, Nivia, and Starbucks as its key clients.

GetWork

Founded in 2019 by Rahul Veerwal and Sumit Gupta, GetWork is a Gurugram-based platform that connects fresh graduates with employers through AI-powered matching technology. The platform simplifies placement processes for colleges and universities, providing tools for job tracking, interview scheduling, and talent analytics.

GetWork’s system analyses over 200 data points per student to deliver tailored job recommendations and skill development insights. With $1.1 Mn in funding from backers like Samarthya Investment Advisors, Artha Venture Fund, and prominent angel investors, GetWork has grown rapidly. As of January 2024, the platform serves 2,251 employers and 677 colleges, facilitating job placements for over 30,000 fresh graduates.

HackerEarth

Founded in 2012 by Sachin Gupta and Vivek Prakash, HackerEarth is a platform designed to enhance technical recruitment by combining coding assessments, video interviews, and remote hiring tools to evaluate developers effectively. 

The platform supports automated technical assessments in 38 programming languages, offers customisable tests, and provides detailed analytics for in-depth candidate evaluation.

HackerEarth also fosters a thriving community of over 4 Mn developers, who engage in hackathons, programming challenges, and coding competitions. 

With $6.5 Mn in funding from investors like Jo Hirao, Prime Venture Partners, and BEENEXT, HackerEarth employs between 200 and 550 people worldwide. Its ISO-certified platform serves as both a technical assessment solution for companies and a valuable practice space for developers looking to sharpen their skills.

Instahyre

Instahyre is a New Delhi-based AI-driven recruitment platform that was founded in 2017 by Aditya Rajgarhia and Sarbojit Mallick. The platform connects employers with candidates through its InstaMatch technology. 

With $540K in funding from prominent investors like Haresh Chawla, Kunal Shah, and Ashish Hemrajani, Instahyre leverages AI to streamline the hiring process.

The platform’s InstaMatch technology analyses millions of data points to assess candidate behaviour, intent, and fit for specific roles, building comprehensive profiles based on work history, skills, and career growth. 

Serving over 10,000 businesses, including Amazon, Google, and PayPal, Instahyre maintains a vast database of 30 Mn job seekers. The platform claims to cut hiring time by 60-70% and reduce costs by up to 90% compared to traditional recruitment methods.

HerKey

HerKey (formerly JobsForHer) is a Bengaluru-based career engagement platform dedicated to bridging the gender gap in India’s workforce. With $4 Mn in funding from Kalaari Capital, 360 ONE Asset, and angel investors Zia Mody and Ranjan Pai, HerKey supports women in starting, restarting, and advancing their careers through job matching, skill development, and mentorship.

Founded in 2015 by Neha Bagaria, this HR tech startup partners with over 10,000 companies to recruit, retain, and promote female talent, offering tailored job recommendations, upskilling courses, mentorship programs, and networking features. 

Serving a community of over 3.5 Mn women across India, HerKey aims to scale its impact to 30 Mn women. Committed to its mission, the company boasts a workforce that is 85% women and is expanding to international markets, including the US, the UK, Germany, and Southeast Asia.

Keka

Hyderabad-headquartered Keka develops HR software that handles core organisational functions from hiring to retirement. Their system automates payroll calculations, tax deductions, leave requests, attendance tracking, and performance reviews while maintaining centralised employee records.

The platform processes payroll for 1.5 Mn employees monthly and serves businesses with 20-5,000 staff. Companies use Keka to manage recruitment, track project hours, run performance assessments, generate compliance reports, and access HR analytics through web and mobile interfaces.

The company doubled revenue to INR 54 Cr in FY23 from INR 25 Cr in FY22, serving 6,500 customers.

Naukri

Founded by Sanjeev Bikhchandani and headquartered in Delhi NCR, Naukri is India’s largest online recruitment platform, connecting job seekers with employers across a vast network. With a valuation of INR 98,480 Cr and a share price of INR 7,562.90, Naukri’s parent company, Info Edge, commands 70% of India’s job portal market.

Naukri’s platform hosts over 65 Mn CVs and serves 76,000 corporate clients, using AI-powered matching, automated screening, and employer branding tools to streamline hiring. With more than 5 Lakh active job listings, Naukri reaches 2 Mn daily users, 80% of whom access the platform via mobile. New offerings like Resdex Enterprise, Talent Pulse, and NVite Plus add AI-based talent sourcing, hiring insights, and WhatsApp outreach to their toolkit.

In Q1 FY25, Info Edge reported INR 677 Cr in operating revenue (up 8% YoY), with recruitment solutions contributing INR 487 Cr. Naukri also saw a 31% rise in AI/ML job postings and expanded its reach to 56 offices across 42 Indian cities, along with a growing presence in Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.

sumHR

Founded by Jay Thaker in 2013, sumHR develops cloud-based HR software for small and medium businesses to handle employee data, payroll, and attendance. Their platform centralises HR functions from recruitment through performance reviews.

The system processes payroll calculations, tax deductions, leave requests, and expense claims while providing analytics for HR metrics. 

In February last year, Bengaluru-based Neobank startup Jupiter acquired sumHR  for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition aimed to give a boost to Jupiter’s bouquet of banking solutions. 

Angel Network Middle East (ANME), which was one of the major seed investors in sumHR, exited the company post its acquisition by Jupiter. 

ZingHR

HR tech startup ZingHR was founded in 2014 by Prasad Rajappan, Ravi S Bajaj, Venkat Balan and Vivek Tikoo. The startup creates enterprise HR software that manages end-to-end workforce operations. Their platform combines AI and machine learning to handle payroll, attendance, recruitment, and employee engagement through a mobile-first interface available in multiple languages.

The company has raised more than $10 Mn in two rounds to date, with Tata Capital being one of its major investors, holding 33% stakes in the company. 

Tata Capital invested $10 Mn in ZingHR in 2022. Accel Partners, Mumbai Angels, Triton and Zeta are some of the other investors backing the company.  

The company claims to serve over 1,100 customers across eight countries and has 2 Mn active users. The company’s FY23 revenues stood at INR 84.48 Cr, up 51% from FY22.