OLX acquires online recruitment marketplace Aasaanjobs

Naspers-backed classifieds portal OLX has acquired online hiring marketplace Aasaanjobs Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount, the companies said in a statement.

Tim Hilpert, chief executive of OLX Markets said in the statement, “Aasaanjobs is a unique platform that uses technology and its wide reach to serve as an integrated go-to platform for recruiters. We aim to disrupt the ever growing job market with this portal and further unify our position in the jobs classifieds market in India.”

Aasaanjobs was founded in 2013 by IIT Bombay alumni Dinesh Goel, Ishank Gupta, Gaurav Toshniwal, Aditya Gupta and Kunal Jadhav. Currently, only Goel and Jadhav are still with Aasaanjobs. The other co-founders quit in earlier years.

Prior to setting up Aasaanjobs, Goel worked at Deutsche Bank and Star India; Toshniwal had founded another company, WireddIn Interactive; Ishank Gupta was a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group; Aditya Gupta set up IndusCampus and was a marketing manager; and Jadhav was an associate developer at financial services firm FlexTrade.

“The company’s inception was inspired by the large unregulated blue/grey collar jobs segment in India where we saw a massive untapped opportunity. Having understood the need-gap in this segment over the last three years, we pioneered the blue/grey jobs market by enabling job seekers and employers to find each other on a common platform. As we look to scale these numbers and expand to other cities, we found OLX to be a natural fit for our vision," co-founder and chief executive Goel said in the statement.

In February 2016, Aasaanjobs had raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Aspada Capital Advisors LLP. 

In January 2015, it had raised $1.5 million from Inventus and IDG Ventures.

In June last year, Aasaanjobs had acquired mHire, a Noida-based recruitment marketplace focused on skilled and semi-skilled, blue- and grey-collar jobs.

Another firm operating in the space is online classifieds site Quikr India Pvt. Ltd, which acquired blue collar jobs listing company Babajob Services Pvt. Ltd in June 2017.

In January last year, OLX named Momtaz Moussa as its India general manager.

Moussa, who joined OLX in early 2016 as general manager in Egypt, has been heading key markets in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), including Lebanon and Oman.