Professional networking and jobs platform, Apna has raised a $70 million Series B round led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global. With this investment Apna has now raised over $90 million within 16 months of product launch and is now valued at $570 million.
Existing investors Sequoia Capital India, Lightspeed India, Greenoaks Capital and Rocketship VC have also participated in the round.
Apna will use the proceeds to strengthen its presence in existing cities and expand pan-India over the next six months. The team plans to double down on their edtech platform for skilling by continuing to invest in hiring exceptional talent and building world class engineering and product capabilities. Additionally, Apna plans to expand to high potential international markets such as Southeast Asia and the United States in the coming year.
“At Apna we are determined to take a fresh approach towards solving employment and skilling challenges for billions. Over the last month itself Apna has facilitated more than 15 million job interviews and work related conversations where users have helped each other to start a business, find a gig or learn a new skill. We are still in the early stages of solving the problem and are excited to continue on this journey with the backing of our new partners.” Nirmit Parikh, Founder and CEO, Apna.
Founded in 2019, Apna is a tech-driven platform that harness the power of communities that enables the users access to better jobs and entrepreneurship.
Today, the app comprises 60 plus communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, field sales agents and many others. The app allows users to access local job opportunities, network with peers, practice for interviews, share their accomplishments, and gain new skills.
Apna has witnessed exceptional growth since its launch - with 10 million plus users and 100,000 plus employers, relying on Apna to find appropriate job opportunities and talent respectively.
Over the past three months Apna has doubled the number of Indian cities in which it is present to 14. This growth has enabled Apna to catapult from a challenger to the market leader in its category. It has also attracted top global and local talent from firms like Uber, BCG & Swiggy.
“We believe that our investment will enable Apna to continue their steep growth trajectory, scale up their operations, and improve access to opportunities for India’s workforce.” Nikhil Sachdev, Managing Director, Insight Partners
Griffin Schroeder, Partner, Tiger Global said “Apna’s focus on digitising the process of job discovery, application and employer candidate interaction has the potential to revolutionise the hiring process. The Apna app also helps workers form professional networks and upskill themselves. We are excited to partner with the team as they expand to new markets in India and abroad.”
