Apna, Indian Job App for workers, gets $8 Million investment

Apna is an Indian app startup that aims to connect millions of workers at the base of the pyramid with employers amid the damage of India's lockdown. It has managed to raise $ 8 million from a group of investors.

Got funding, from new investors Greenoaks Capital, Rocketship VC, and existing backers Lightspeed India and Sequoia Capital, will help the app to spread in more number of cities, the Indian firm said in a statement released on Tuesday. It also wants to grow in verticals like accounting, customer service, and nursing.

Apna is currently in five cities. The startup, founded by Apple Inc alumnus Nirmit Parikh, is a kind of LinkedIn for the more impoverished Indians who don't speak English. The application helps first-time Internet users access job opportunities by entering their name, age, and skills to generate a virtual "business card" that gets shared with potential employers. Apna has 1.2 million users, after less than a year of its December launch.

It generated more than a million job interviews in the last month for workers such as carpenters, painters and field sales agents, growing more than three times month-over-month, as per the company. The firm added that Amazon.com, online supermarket BigBasket and HDFC Bank Ltd have contracted via the apna app.

"There are over 250 million blue and grey collar workers in India," Harshjit Sethi, principal at Sequoia Capital India, said in the note announcing the funding. "Apna has built a unique product where users quickly come together in professional communities an unmet need so far."Apna