Jobs platform Apna has become the latest entrant in the growing list of Indian unicorns after raising $100 million (Rs 734.7 crore) as a part of its Series C round led by existing investor Tiger Global Management.
The round, which values Apna at $1.1 billion (Rs 8,082 crore), comes three months after the startup raised $70 million in its Series B fundraise co-led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global. The current round almost doubles Apna’s valuation -- the startup was last valued at $570 million during its June fundraise this year.
The current round saw Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Maverick Ventures and GSV Ventures.
According to Apna’s founder and chief executive, Nirmit Parikh, the startup will use the funds to expand its platform across India.
Proceeds from the round will also be used for international expansion and to enter upskilling for blue and grey-collared workers. The firm also plans to ramp up hiring across engineering and product functions.
The two-year-old venture, founded in June 2019, has also become one of the fastest Indian startups to achieve unicorn status, joining the likes of Ola Electric; InMobi’s Glance; business-to-business marketplace Udaan; and Paytm Mall-- all startups which touched the $1 billion valuation after about two years of starting operations.
“We have registered a 125-fold growth in our business, and facilitated over 100 million interviews over the past 15 months. Over the last month alone, the Apna platform facilitated over 18 million interviews, and we have been consistently been showcasing strong performance...employment for the rising workforce is a large opportunity with almost 2.3 billion individuals falling under the category today,” said Parikh.
At present, Apna claims to have over 16 million users.
