‘Apna’, a LinkedIn- like digital professional networking platform for blue and grey collared workers, has raised $8 million from a clutch of investors. The funding is from new investors Greenoaks Capital, Rocketship VC, and existing backers Lightspeed India and Sequoia Capital.
Nimrit Parikh, who holds an MBA degree from Stanford, launched Apna this February, for blue and grey collared workers.
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The idea for apna has taken-root when our CEO-@Nirmit_Parikh realized the difficulties faced by Blue collar sectors in India to find the right person for the job.
Thanks to our Investors-@lightspeedvp & @Sequoia_India.
Check this article by-@MumbaiMirror https://t.co/sNRVsAwlcl— apna.co (@apnahq) August 31, 2020
A blue-collar worker refers to someone whose profession requires them to perform a fair amount of manual labor and who earn hourly for their work, while a grey collared worker refers to people working beyond the age of retirement. In India, there are over 450 million people who come under the blue-collar category alone.
This ‘LinkedIn’ for non-English-speaking, poorer Indians helps first-time internet users access job opportunities by entering their name, age, and skills to generate a virtual business card shared with potential employers. Less than a year after its launch, Apna has 1.2 million users.
With this latest investment, the startup plans to expand from the current five cities, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, and Ahemdabad, to several new markets.
The ongoing pandemic has impacted millions of jobs and has shifted the hiring process to completely online portals. On this, Parikh, in an interview, stated, “With reverse migration and supply chains falling apart, companies adopted digital hiring solutions, and that gave us a strong tailwind.”
