Apna, an application start-up that aims to provide a platform to connect millions of bottom-of-the-pyramid employees to employers amid the destruction of India’s lockdown, has raised $8 million from a clutch of investors. The funding, from new investors Rocketship VC, Greenoaks Capital, as well as prevailing backers Lightspeed India and Sequoia Capital, will aid the app to grow in more cities, the Indian firm told in a statement published September 1, 2020. It also wants to grow and get access across verticals such as accounting, customer service and nursing. Currently, Apna is functioning in five cities.
Javed, a middle-aged man, employed as a driver before losing that job earlier this year due to coronavirus spread across our country, prompting New Delhi to impose a nationwide lockdown and temporarily curb several business activities. There are millions of people like Javed in India today who have lost their livelihood in recent months. They are low-skilled workers and are currently striving to get another job. Here is the need for Apna as a platform to connect people across the place for own livelihood.
The startup, initiated by Apple Incorporation alumni Nirmit Parikh, is a sort of LinkedIn for non-English-speaking, low-skilled Indians. The app helps first-time internet users access the job opportunities by submitting their name, age, and skills to generate a virtual business card that’s shared with potential employers. Apna has 1.2 million users less than a year after it got launched in December.
It generated more than a million job interviews in the previous month for workers like painters, carpenters and field sales agents, growing over three times month-on-month, according to the start-up. The firm stated that Amazon, online grocer giant BigBasket, and HDFC Bank Ltd. have hired through this application.
Harshjit Sethi, principal at Sequoia Capital India told in the note announcing the funding that, there are more than 250 million blue and grey collar workers in India. Apna has built a unique item where users quickly come together in professional communities, an unmet need so far. With the wide internet usage in this demographic growing rapidly, further increased by the Jio facility, apps such as Apna can play a major role in democratizing admission to employment and skilling.
