VentureWorks backs talent analytics startup Jombay

Talent retention and analytics firm Jombay Pvt Ltd has raised an undisclosed amount in its second round of institutional funding from VentureWorks India. Nikunj Jhaveri, chairman of Systems Plus Group of companies, also participated in this round, as per a press statement.

The startup will use the money raised to expand the range of its products to cover the entire employee lifecycle.

As part of the transaction, VentureWorks founder Keshav Sanghi will join Jombay's advisory board.

Founded in 2011 by Mohit Gundecha and Suruchi Wagh, Jombay started as a firm that prescribed psychometric tests. It gradually expanded services into performance management and learning & development. The company counts HDFC, Citi, Nestle, TATA AIA, Sun Pharma, Taj Group among others as customers. Jombay works with about 150 customers for services around talent identification, performance, promotions and leadership development.

It had raised the first round of funding from Patni brothers-backed Nirvana Ventures in 2011.

"Our most popular scenario is the first time and middle level management. Identification and development of managers at these levels is a big time problem that today's corporates face and we hope to address this," Gundecha said.

Of late, talent management firms have been attracting tremendous investor attention. Many of them render services to tech startups who generally face challenges in getting the right talent.

Jobspire, a hiring portal that allows startups to visually describe their work environment, recently secured $262,000 in seed funding from Purvi Capital LLC, a Chicago-based investment firm in September. Before that technical recruiting platform HackerRank raised $7.5 million from Japan's Recruit Holding besides existing investors.

Online hiring platform ZenRadius, which assists startups to find talent through social networks, also raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from startup incubator Tracxn Labs and recruitment solutions firm Anzy Careers' founder Deepak Singh.

VentureWorks' Sanghi recently participated in a pre-Series A round at Mumbai-based Eloquent Info Solutions Pvt Ltd, which runs job portal for blue-collar workers WorkIndia. Newgen Internet Networks Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates online video content platform Glamrs, had raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round led by Ventureworks in June.