A market-leading vertical professional networking platform for India’s working class, Apna has raised $12.5 million in a fresh round of funding led by Sequoia Capital India and Greenoaks Capital.
The round also saw participation from its existing investors including Lightspeed India and Rocketship VC.
“The funds raised will be used to strengthen its presence in existing cities, expand into new geographies, invest in exceptional talent, as well as build sophisticated engineering and product capabilities,” the company said.
Founded in 2019, Apna is helping India’s rapidly expanding working class of grey and blue-collar workers unlock unique professional, networking, and skilling opportunities. The app comprises vertical communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, field sales agents, and many others. Users in the app get access to local job opportunities, can network with peers, practice interviews together, share their accomplishments, and gain new skills.
Speaking on the funding, Nirmit Parikh, Founder & CEO, Apna said, “At Apna, we aim to uplift the workforce in every sense – over the last 6 months we have facilitated 16 Million+ recruiter-candidate interactions and 30 Million+ work-related conversations where users have helped each other to start a business, find a gig or learn a new skill.”
Commenting on the investment in Apna, Harshjit Sethi, Principal, Sequoia India said, “Apna is well on its way to building a professional social network for India with millions of users in just a few months of launch. Apna aims to provide its users with access to jobs, the upskilling to thrive in these jobs, and a community to support them professionally. Sequoia Capital India first led the seed round 18 months ago. The team is excited about the deeper partnership on the back of Apna’s strong user love, rapid growth, and the addition of top talent.”
“Apna has taken a jobs-centric approach to upskilling that we are very excited about. Lack of accountability has been the core issue with current skill / vocational learning alternatives for grey and blue-collar workers. Apna has turned the problem on its head by creating net-positive job outcomes for anyone who chooses to upskill on the platform,” Vaibhav Agrawal, Partner at Lightspeed India added.