[Funding alert] Game-based gig workforce assessment and recruitment startup PakkaProfile raises seed round led by Java Capital

PakkaProfile, a game-based assessment and recruitment platform for gig workforce, has raised seed round led by Java Capital. The round also saw participation from LetsVenture and Akshay Kothari, COO, Notion. The startup had previously raised pre-seed funding from Entrepreneur First. 

Launched in May 2019 by Nagmanjunath Shivakumar and Savio Sebastian, the Bengaluru-based startup is reimagining gig workforce assessments using psychometric games, facial and speech recognition technologies, and deep learning, thus helping companies make unbiased decisions and hire the right workforce. 

Nagmanjunath, CEO, PakkaProfile, said, “Hiring gig workers has been a bit of a black box. Employers are constantly looking for higher productivity, longer retention, and better customer service from their workforce. And gig workers are typically opportunistic, trying to maximise their earnings over a short period of time, looking at flexible hours and opportunities closer to home. The opportunity lies in bridging the gap. Moving away from traditional job sites to an on-demand platform for gig jobs is what we have to offer.”

“Vernacular games are an effective way to build a profile by measuring personality traits, cognitive and language skills of the workforce and help match the right people for jobs,” he added.

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Bhargavi V, Partner at Java Capital, said,

"PakkaProfile has a unique approach of using games, breaking all barriers of language and education levels to assess and match gig workforce to the right job. It also builds a skill profile for each candidate evaluated through the platform, which opens numerous possibilities in the future."

"PakkaProfile provides flexibility to employers by offering them to opt for either the evaluation+matching+ hiring platform or just the evaluation+matching solution, which helped them to work with giants like Swiggy and Ola at a very early stage in their journey,” Bhargavi added.

Java capital is an investment syndicate that primarily focuses on sectors including fintech, healthtech, SaaS, mobile internet, consumer, and deeptech. The firm partners with companies with an idea to prototype stage and pre-product market fit stage, and actively work with them to lead them to the next stage of growth.