Global Leaders Join Unicorn Apna To Build World's Largest Job Platform

Apna, India’s largest jobs platform and professional network for the rising workforce, is attracting top leaders from across the globe including US and UK. They are joining the firm, which recently became one of the fastest Indian unicorns, in its mission towards accelerating the Indian economy.

In September this year, Apna was valued at $1.1 billion in less than two years since it started, with $100 million from Tiger Global Management. The firm had roped in Karna Chokshi as chief operating officer. Chokshi who has an MBA from Stanford University used to work with mobility firm Uber in the US. Karthik Manivannan, COO, Community at Apna had worked with Mckinsey in the UK. Roshan Agarwal, another top executive at Apna, led the business for hotel network OYO in the Middle East.

The Bengaluru-based firm was founded in 2019 by Nirmit Parikh who has an MBA from Stanford University. He was working with tech giant Apple in Cupertino, US and had also founded Cruxbot (acquired by intel) and Incone Technologies.

“Why we are able to attract talent is the fact that we are trying to address this huge problem of unemployment, livelihood, skilling and poverty,” said Manas Singh, chief business officer, Apna, in an interview. Before joining the firm he was working with Boston Consulting Group as a partner and had worked across geographies such as London, Shanghai and Chicago. “There is so much potential in the rising workforce. India alone has 250 million such workers and there are around 2.3 billion such workers around the world. There is tremendous potential to unlock the talent and opportunity for this segment and that's really the genesis of what some would say ‘reverse brain drain’ to India.”

Apna had also hired Anenth Guru who is an engineer manager at the company. He had worked with tech firm Zendrive in San Francisco in the US. Anirban Gupta, head of marketplace management and strategy, Apna, had worked with consulting firm Bain & Company and led operations for India, Middle East and Singapore. Harish Srinivas, architect- DevSecOps at Apna, returned to India after his masters in Computer Science at Suffolk University. Tanmay Desai, who is working with Apna, had previously co-founded tech firm Armada Intelligence in the US.

Apna said young people today are looking beyond salary packages. They are on the lookout for doing something meaningful that creates a long-lasting impact. The firm said its mission of empowering a billion lives is something that is driving more young people towards it.

For instance, Apna is a one of its kind organisation in the world that is solving the most crucial problems of unemployment, poverty and skilling. People want to do meaningful work that can impact billions of people not just in India but globally.

The demand for India’s rising workforce to support business operations across industries has continued to grow during the festive season 2021 creating job opportunities. This quarter (September 1, 2021–November 10, 2021), Apna, recorded 12 million job openings on its platform in the festive season.

The growing number of job opportunities available on the platform signifies healthy economic growth in the country, post-pandemic. Apna, which became 27th unicorn this year or a startup with over $1 billion valuation, enabled over 37 million interviews, accelerating the economic growth of India, by bridging the gap between job seekers and employers. The platform also registered 5 million new users on its app from September-first week of November this year, indicating an increase in job searches during the festivities. It expanded to over 15 cities in India during the festive months. There are now over 16 million users and 1,50,000 employers active on the platform and it is present in over 42 cities across the country.

“I think salaries and financial outcomes alone (are not the criteria). There is increasingly more consciousness in the youth to make an impact at a personal, societal and country level. And the cause we are serving has deep social roots to it,” said Singh. “ That's been a huge reason for the tremendous attraction of some of the best talent in India and around the world that's been moving towards Apna.”

Inside the organisation, the firm said it is also focusing on customer obsession, deep empathy and is making a consistent effort in being transparent and having a diverse work culture. It is encouraging people to stand up and solve problems.

The firm’s employees are spread across the country. Work from home has opened avenues for companies to attract, hire and retain the best talent. The firm said it is not looking at opening offices anytime soon.

Apna plans to expand its presence across India and globally. As it scales its operations, Apna will be hiring over 400 professionals in the next 6 months to help it support its mission.

Apna’s job platform leverages a sophisticated algorithm that matches candidates with employers taking into account their skills, experience and preferences. The app comprises over 70 communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, telecallers, field sales agents and delivery personnel. Apna communities have enabled users to grow their professional networks, upskill through peer learning and find gig opportunities.

The ‘gig’ economy has grown significantly in the past decade with the advent of technology platforms like Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Dunzo, UrbanCompany among others. With the emergence of technology-enabled gig work platforms, over 200 million people are considered part of the gig workforce globally, according to a report by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

India’s gig economy is set to triple over the next 3-4 years to 24 million jobs in the non-firm sector from the existing 8 million, according to the report.

The report estimates that the gig economy has the potential to service up to 90 million jobs in India’s non-farm economy alone, transact over $ 250 billion in the volume of work, and contribute an incremental 1.25 per cent (approximately) to India's GDP (gross domestic product) over the long term.

Among the benefits of the gig economy, the report talks about expanding labor participation especially for women and students who may only be available for part-time work to supplement household income.