This Kochi-based bootstrapped HR startup is using AI to help you hire the perfect candidate

Hiring can be difficult. But two hardcore techies, Jyothis K S and Deepu Xavier, saw a business opportunity in using technology to make it easier.

The duo felt that the process of hiring could be simplified using technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI). They researched the HR segment and realised there were a lot of piecemeal solutions in the market, but no single platform to take care of the requirements of a recruiter.

And in July 2018, ZappyHire was born at the Kerala Startup Mission premises in Kochi. ZappyHire gives companies the flexibility on what tools they would like to use, based on their hiring requirements - assessment, candidate profiling, etc. The startup also helps a company speed up the onboarding process.

Starting up

Jyothis and Deepu have worked across the world with multiple companies and faced several recruiting challenges.

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“Both of us were in positions where we had to hire people, form teams, and scale operations, but we realised that many companies were not leveraging technology enough,” says Jyothis.

The founders became friends while they were roommates in Zurich, working for Infosys. While they went on to work with different companies, they always stayed connected. The two discussed business ideas and dreams of building an independent company.

Seeing a paradigm shift in the hiring process, the two realised that AI could prove to be a game changer.  “We thought why not build a platform, which can handle the entire end-to-end process of hiring,” Jyothis says

Why Kochi as base

Choosing Kochi as the startup’s base was a well-reasoned decision as the city would incur lesser operational costs and would have the necessary tech talent.

As the founders charted out their plans, they found out most companies were spending considerable time in screening candidates, struggling to get them on board.

Jyothis says, “Our discussion with experts and HR heads from various sectors made us realise that we need to create a robust assessment platform, which is also flexible.”

This also had to be technology led as recruiters could save time and money if much of the assessment and filtering was done even before meeting the candidates in person.

ZappyHire started creating a robust tech platform to integrate various assessment engines available to have a more holistic picture of the candidates. It also introduced games on their platform to make it more engaging for candidates and lead to better assessment for the recruiter.

However, ZappyHire’s real edge comes from the AI technology it has integrated on its platform. This helps in three areas for the recruiters. Firstly, it has a strong recommendation engine for companies to tap into to get the right pool candidates, extending to academic institutions or locations.

Secondly, its assessment platform includes an automated video platform. Lastly, the startup’s solution can identify impediments in the hiring process based on analytics. “These make the entire hiring process more accountable,” says Jyothis.

ZappyHire’s first client was Federal Bank and the startup is in talks with various financial institutions and IT companies. “Our hiring platform can be used for any sector, but we are now targeting these two segments,” says the co-founder.

The founders claim that ZappyHire’s technology platform has processed 4,500 candidates with over 150 offer letters released until now, conducting over 1,000 robotic interviews.

Plans ahead and funding

Globally the HR tech market is a multibillion market estimated to touch $30 billion by 2021. In India, there has been huge spurt in the number of HR tech startups and industry estimates that corporates in the country can save about $600 million annually through HR technology.

Jyothis says the startup is going to expand the gamification portfolio of its platform and also identify behavioural patterns for different sectors. From a business perspective, ZappyHire plans to expand outside India to locations like Singapore, Middle East, Europe, and the US.

It also plans to invest more into AI and focus on creating IP. The team is clear that it will not focus on issues like client interactions or deliverables.

Bootstrapped at the moment, the startup is looking for investments. It is in talks to raise funding and claims to be cash positive in the first year itself.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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