Indian recruiters launch $10m VC fund
Indian recruitment companies Kelly Services India and Temp Holdings have launched a INR670 million ($10 million) venture capital fund focused on human resources-focused start-ups.
The Temp Innovation Fund represents the third country-focused VC launch for Temp targeting staffing-related businesses following similar initiatives in Japan and the US. It is expected to allocate about INR20 million per company across areas including HR information systems, analytics, payroll and employee productivity enhancement.
"We are looking out for startups harnessing complex algorithms, predictive analytics, patented platforms and digital technologies that can enhance HR and recruitment productivity," Kamal Karanth, a managing director at Kelly, told The Economic Times, noting that the local HR market valued about INR400 billion, including related technology platforms.
"VCs in India are concentrating on internet, fintech, healthcare, edutech and clean tech start-ups. The Temp Innovation Fund will invest in HR startups which will make people-related interfaces and transactions more productive."
Recent recruitment sector activity in India otherwise includes ICICI Venture exiting nearly all of its stake in staffing services company TeamLease for INR1 billion and the acquisition of white collar jobs hiring platform Hiree by classifieds site operator Quikr. Earlier this week, Brand Capital, an investment arm of The Times Group, committed INR1.3 billion to Quikr in a media-for-equity investment scheme.
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