With $16 mn in Series C, talent management co Sense to bolster India presence

With the pandemic changing the way people work – especially those in the IT sector—companies are looking for ways to attract and more importantly, retain these prized skilled workers. San Francisco-based talent management startup Sense Talent Labs, which provides enterprise recruiting solutions, is targeting India’s growing SaaS industry in hopes of casting a wider net on the Asia market.   

Apart from securing $16 million in a Series C funding round led by Avataar Ventures, the company has also expanded its footprint in India with the addition of new members to the executive leadership team. 

Sanjay Dharmani (former InMobi executive) has been roped in as managing director while Nishant Rao, founder of Avataar Venture Partners, has joined the board.   

The round also saw participation from existing investors Accel Partners and Google Ventures, the startup said in a statement. 

“We see India as a highly strategic market for us. The tech talent in Indian is very robust and knowledgeable in SaaS solutions. This global expansion allows us to tap into that rich talent market to grow our product and engineering team as well as a dedicated marketing and customer success team. And eventually it will serve as our regional HQ for broader Asia expansion which itself holds a $110 billion market potential,” Anil Dharni, CEO and co-founder of Sense said. 

Dharni founded the startup in 2015 along with Panjaj Jindal. Sense is an enterprise-ready solution that provides a system of engagement for talent acquisition teams. It enables personalised communication across the entire talent lifecycle at scale, and also automates manual tasks for recruiters. The company claims to accelerate recruiting, marketing, sales and talent care teams to improve the candidate experience, lower talent attrition and increase redeployment. 

The company has so far raised a total of $40 million in funding.  

“We will look to utilise the funds to further accelerate our expansion plans. For Sense India, the priority is to grow our technology center of excellence, continue to hire and expand our technology footprint by growing our data sciences, product and engineering teams. We are also looking to enhance our operational excellence by expanding our business operations, marketing, inside sales and customer success teams,” Dharmani said.

Currently, Sense claims to be servicing more than 400 customers across the globe including Amazon and Kelly Services. The startup also said it has doubled its revenue and employee headcount. 

“The macro-shift to contingent labor and gig economy has already grown 10x over the past decade and yet we’ve only just begun scratching the surface. I believe our investments in new products will allow Sense to go from a robust system of engagement to a truly distinctive network / platform play for the future,” Rao said. 

Avataar Venture Partners announced the final close of its $100 million Opportunities Fund in February 2021. The fund invests in tech-enabled business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces and SaaS companies in the growth stage. Last year, Avataar invested $15 million in New Delhi-based RateGain Travel Technologies.