[Funding alert] HR tech startup Skillenza raises $1M led by CBA Capital's Education Catalyst Fund

Bengaluru-based HR tech startup Skillenza has announced that it has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round led by CBA Capital's Education Catalyst Fund (ECF). Existing investors Blume Ventures and Tracxn Labs have also invested along with Let’sVenture, CIO Angel Network, Keiretsu Forum, and Hyderabad Angels.

In Oct 2017, the startup secured Rs 4.7 crore in a seed round led by Blume Ventures and Indian Angel Network. It had received Rs 1.6 crore in angel funding in 2015.

Also read: Growing role of Artificial Intelligence in HR tech

On the investment, Subhendu Panigrahi, Founder, Skillenza said,

“The current round will be utilised to create new modules for assessment of software engineers and expand into Tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India. We are working on credentialing students coming out of engineering colleges and creating a global repository of final year undergraduates. These verified and ranked profiles will help companies to hire talent quickly.”

Skillenza was launched in 2014 with a vision of revolutionising the standard hiring process. It provides a SaaS-enabled marketplace that caters to professionals (including students) and enterprises (including SMBs) with an assessment engine that can verify and validate software engineers and data scientists.

Skillenza addresses two pain points - first, how enterprises discover relevant and quality talent, and second, how individuals shape their professional careers and find the right opportunity for themselves.

Skillenza stated that it has a transparent platform where individuals solve real-life problem statements or challenges posed by companies and showcase their work as well as their expertise and experience. The startup has stepped up the hiring procedure with online challenges, pre-tested recruitment drives, and hackathons for engaging and finding talent. It has 500,000 registered users who participate in challenges and get verified.

Vishal Bharat, Managing Director, CBA Capital, said,

“What attracted us to Skillenza is its offering that combines the creative process with 21st-century skills. It enables participants to explore their skills in the areas that are close to their heart. Subhendu brings the required energy to grow this business. CBA Capital is excited to join Skillenza's growth journey over the next few years”.

Skillenza has more than 40 clients like Zivame, Ola, Simplilearn, Knowlarity, and Hike among others.

Similar notable players in the HR tech segment are Aspiring Minds, HackerRank, CoCubes, DoSelect, HackerEarth, Interview Mochha, and Mercer-Mettl among others. In Oct 2018, Mercer, a global consulting leader and a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. had acquired Gurugram-headquartered Mettl for approximately Rs 300 crore.

Also read: [Startup Bharat] This Jaipur-based HR tech startup has built an Ola-like aggregator platform for recruitment