[Funding alert] Vijay Shekhar Sharma backed TapChief raises $650,000 in funding from 500 Startups, Kunal Shah and others
The startup states it will use the funds to expand their team as well as accelerate product development.
![[Funding alert] Vijay Shekhar Sharma backed TapChief raises $650,000 in funding from 500 Startups, Kunal Shah and others](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/2/bd251c60-2d6a-11e9-aa97-9329348d4c3e/FoundersV11561486030850.png?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=2%3A1&format=auto&w=1920&q=75)
Networking platform for professionals TapChief on Tuesday said that it has raised $650,000 from more than 50 investors including SEA-based VC Firm 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, and SucSEED Venture Partners.
Existing investors Paytm, NuVentures, and Aprameya Radhakrishna (Founder of Vokal and Taxi for Sure) also participated in the round alongside a number of marquee angel investors like Kunal Shah, (Founder of Freecharge and CRED), Mekin Maheshwari (ex-CPO of Flipkart), and Amit Ranjan (Founder of Slideshare).
Founders of TapChief (L to R): Binay Krishna, Shashank Murali and Arjun Krishna
Other prominent angels in the round include Ritesh Malik (Founder of Innov8), Sachin Oswal (Co-founder of Infibeam), Natarajan R (CFO of RNT Capital), Satyen Kothari (Co-founder of CitrusPay and Cube), among others.
According to the founders, the funds raised will be used to expand their team and accelerate product development.
Founded in 2016 by BITS Pilani alumni Shashank Murali, Binay Krishna, and Arjun Krishna, TapChief pivoted from an online advice platform to a full-stack future of work platform in mid-2017.
At present, the startup is looking to empower a million professionals to earn viable incomes without a full-time job.
Speaking on the funding, Shashank Murali, Co-founder and CEO at TapChief, said,
“An increasing number of highly-skilled professionals want the freedom to work on challenging problems and teams without a full-time job. We are de-risking the concept of remote independent work by creating thousands of solopreneurs who help businesses achieve key objectives everyday. Bringing on such accomplished partners will serve to help our cause in this journey of changing the way India works.”
TapChief claims to have over 75,000 professionals who use the platform to aggregate their personal brands online, learn from experts, and work with businesses on gigs. The startup enables both sides (businesses and professionals) through an array of proprietary technology solutions to manage everything from discovery to payments.
It works actively with various businesses including Fortune 500s like Unilever and Deloitte, and growth-stage startups like redBus, UpGrad, and Dunzo. In addition to this, the startup states that the platform has enabled gigs worth more than a million dollars to date.
Adding on the current investment, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm, said,
“Businesses need a trusted way to engage with high-quality talent and TapChief’s focus on curating and managing the entire lifecycle through technology and a community of professionals is a winning proposition to all stakeholders in a rapidly changing business environment. Right from our investment in the first round, a young team has delivered promising results and we are ardent supporters of the proposition they are building for the world.”
With a team of 35 based in Bengaluru, the startup is looking to add a million professionals on the platform this year.
