Apna.co raises $8 million from Lightspeed India, Sequoia
- The funds will be used for accelerating growth by expanding to more cities, leadership hiring and broadening its user community to more blue and grey collar verticals
Apna.co, a vertical professional network of grey and blue collar workers, raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by existing investors – Lightspeed India and Sequoia Capital India. This round also saw participation from new investors, Greenoaks Capital and Rocketship VC.
The funds will be used for accelerating growth by expanding to more cities, leadership hiring and broadening its user community to more blue and grey collar verticals.
Founded by Nirmit Parikh, Apna is helping first-time internet users to access professional opportunities, leveraging its unique vertical communities. The app comprises of vertical communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters and field sales where users get access to local job opportunities, network with peers, share their accomplishments and gain new skills.
“Apna’s mission is to connect people with opportunities. We want to uplift the workers who form the backbone of the economy and provide them a platform to grow in their career,” said Nirmit Parikh, founder & CEO at Apna.
In less than a year since its launch, Apna has more than 1.2 million users on the platform and more than 1 million job interviews generated in the last 30 days alone
“There are over 250 million blue and grey collar workers in India at present and providing meaningful employment opportunities to this segment is one of the biggest challenges in our country,” said Harshjit Sethi, Principal at Sequoia Capital India LLP.
Currently present in 5 cities, Apna plans to leverage its series A funding to test new markets, while continuing to launch in multiple cities every month. Apna believes it is serving a need that’s relevant globally including in emerging and established markets like southeast Asia and the US, where millions of workers have lost jobs in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.
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First Published:1 Sep 2020, 12:13 PM IST
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