WorkIndia, a blue-collar recruitment platform, has raised Rs42 crore from Chinese electronics company Xiaomi. Previous investors of WorkIndia who have done multiple investment rounds in the company include Beenext and Japanese hedge fund Asuka Investments among others.
The five-year-old company claims, it has become India’s largest blue-collar recruitment player with 2.1 crore unique app sessions per month, 1.5 crore registered job seekers and presence in 763 cities across India.
Manu Jain, global vice president, Xiaomi and managing director, Xiaomi India, said, “The cutting edge technology developed by WorkIndia, utilising geo-positioning and dynamic algorithms, is one of the best in class that we have seen. The company has created a massive dent in the Indian Blue Collar segment within a short span of time. It is inspiring to see WorkIndia leverage the high smartphone penetration in India and provide an opportunity to people from all segments, working as an equalizer.”
Xiaomi has also backed the likes of Sharechat, Zest Money and TouchTalent over the past two years. Separately, last year, Shunwei Capital, which manages assets of about $3 billion and founded by Xiaomi founders Lei Jun and Tuck Lye Koh, has co-led a $5.5 million (about Rs40 crore) investment round in regional language podcast app Kuku FM. Smaller Chinese VCs, apart from their larger counterparts like Tiger Global, have been looking for startups back in India for over two years now with up to $4 billion worth of investments in India reported in 2019.
Candidates can browse through job opportunities that match their skills and geo-location, and apply through a single click or a call on the WorkIndia App. The app was designed to tap into the prevalence of smart phones and cheap data connectivity in the country over the past few years.
“Investment in young talent within the company is WorkIndia’s key focus. We follow a three-pronged philosophy for our talent grooming – Learn, Earn and Have Fun. There is an extraordinary level of focus on working with amazing team members and learning from them while having fun,” said Kunal Patil, Co-founder at WorkIndia.
