Cloud-based human resource (HR) platform Darwinbox on Tuesday announced that it has received USD 15 million in a funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the CRM giant. Sequoia India and Lightspeed Ventures, which have previously invested in the firm, also joined this round.
“We will double down on our investments in deep technologies like AI and machine learning to deliver interactive, intelligent people analytics and best-in-class employee experience,” co-founder Jayant Paleti told KrASIA.
The company also plans to widen its footprint in the Southeast Asian market. Paleti said that its service has already been used by “a significant number” of large clients in Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, such as e-ecommerce unicorn Tokopedia, healthtech app Alodokter, and the Singaporean fintech firm Fave.
“We will strengthen our position in these markets and will also further our expansion into Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia this year,” he added. Paleti said that the Southeast Asian market is home to the highest percentage of millennial workers globally and with a rapid mobile adoption.
In 2020, Darwinbox more than doubled its customer number and tripled the revenue from the previous year. As enterprises are accelerating their digitalization processes, they become more inclined to work with software-as-a-service companies. “They are moving away from global legacy platforms in favor of more agile and modern solutions,” Paleti said.
Fast growing market
HR tech is one of the fastest-growing markets globally, with funding to companies in this sector reaching USD 6.7 billion in 2019 according to CBInsights. India and US-based market research and consulting company Grand View Research also found that the market is anticipated to reach USD 38.17 billion by 2027.
Darwinbox was founded in October 2015 by Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi, and Rohit Chennamaneni. It automates the management of clients’ daily HR transactions, such as leave and attendance records, as well as employee travel expenses. After the pandemic, the company also released features such as touchless attendance check-in, digital recruitment and onboarding process, as well as digital rewards to increase employee engagement.
Previously, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series B funding round led by Sequoia India in September 2019.