Skillenza raises pre-Series A funding to expand ops, hire talent

Bengaluru-based VH Education Services Pvt. Ltd. which operates software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketplace Skillenza, said on Wednesday it has raised $1 million (Rs 6.9 crore as per current exchange rates) in a pre-series A funding round from a clutch of investors.

The funding round was led by CBA Capital's Education Catalyst Fund (ECF) with participation from existing investors Blume Ventures, Tracxn Labs, Let’sVenture, CIO Angel Network, Keiretsu forum and Hyderabad Angels.

The company plans to use the funds in creating new modules for assessment of software engineers and expand into Tier two and tier three cities in India.

“We are working on credentialing students coming out of engineering colleges and creating a global repository of final year undergraduates. These verified and ranked profiles will help companies to hire talent quickly,” the statement said.

With this round, the total funding raised by the company amounts to approximately $2 million, the statement added. 

Founded in 2014 by Subhendu Panigrahi, Skillenza provides a platform for skills-based hiring to companies such as Amazon Web Services, Yes Bank, Bosch and Unilever. Panigrahi is an engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and prior to launching Skillenza he worked as a startup curator in Innovation angels.

The company claims to be India's answer to Triplebyte, another platform which conducts technical screening processes to hire software professionals on behalf of companies. 

The company is currently working with Societe Generale, Thoughtworks, Red Hat, Barco, and Danske Bank along with startups such as MoveinSync, Dataweave, Letstransport. It claims to have 500K registered users on its marketplace who participate in challenges and get verified.

Formerly known as Venturesity, Skillenza had raised Rs 4.7 crore in October 2017 in its seed round led by Blume Ventures and Indian Angel Network. Prior to this, it raised angel funding in 2015. 

Recent deals in similar segment

• February 2019: Qandle, a cloud-based HR management and employee engagement platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), raised $1.2 million (Rs 7.7 crore) in pre-Series A funding led by Hong Kong-headquartered venture capital firm Redwood Internet Ventures Ltd.
• January 2019: Human resources firm Shortlist Professionals raised $2 million in a fresh funding round led by US-based impact investment firm Blue Haven Initiative.  
• October 2018: Human resources consulting firm Mercer acquired Gurugram-based online skills assessment startup Mettl for an undisclosed amount.
• April 2018: Gurgaon-based HR tech startup Benepik Technology Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a group of investors, including Vishal Bali, managing director at Nielsen China.