[Funding alert] Jobs platform apna enters unicorn club after raising $100M Series C round led by Tiger Global

Job and professional networking platform Apna.Co has secured close to $100 million in Series C funding led by Tiger Global. The round also saw participation from Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Maverick Ventures, and GSV Ventures.

With this round, Apna has attained a total valuation of $1.1 billion.

The startup aims to go into overdrive to sustainably solve the immense challenges of unemployment, poverty, and upskilling.

The company plans to use the proceeds to further strengthen its presence in the 28 cities it is operational in and expand pan-India by the end of 2021 to help accelerate India’s economy.

Apna also plans to double down on its edtech platform for skilling, invest in hiring exceptional talent, and building world-class engineering and product capabilities. It plans to build a global enterprise by venturing into new markets such as the US, South East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, starting in 2022.

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Sharing his views, Nirmit Parikh, Founder and CEO, apna, said, “apna has a deep social purpose, and is committed to discovery and creation of opportunities to enhance a billion livelihoods, across geographies. With the continued support of our partners, we aim to accelerate our journey of ‘solving for the world.'"

The startup has grown over 125X in the last 15 months and is currently conducting close to 18 million interviews each month.

Griffin Schroeder, Partner, Tiger Global, said, “apna’s viral adoption is driven by a novel social and interactive approach to connecting employers with job seekers. We expect job seekers in search of meaningful connections and vetted opportunities to drive apna’s continued explosive growth across India – and the world.”

The startup's job platform leverages a sophisticated algorithm that matches candidates with employers taking into account their skills, experience, and preferences. The app comprises close to 70+ communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, telecallers, field sales agents, delivery personnel, and others.

The apna communities have enabled users to grow their professional networks, upskill through peer learning and find gig opportunities. The communities have enabled 17 million peer-to-peer professional conversations in the past month.

Many leading companies, such as Zomato, Bharti AXA, Urban Company, BYJU'S, PhonePe, Burger King, Delhivery, TeamLease, and G4S Global, rely on apna to address their most urgent and critical hiring needs.

The startup has facilitated about 100 million interviews via the app in less than two years.