WorkIndia secures Rs 97 Cr in Series B led by Aavishkaar Capital

WorkIndia, a Bengaluru founded recruitment platform for blue and grey collar workers, has secured Rs 97 crore in a Series B round led by Aavishkaar Capital.

BEENEXT Capital, an early backer of the company, also participated in the round, investing Rs 22 crore, while Aavishkaar contributed Rs 75 crore.

WorkIndia said the funds will be directed towards strengthening its technology stack, refining how it matches employers with candidates, expanding its presence in regions with strong hiring demand and developing new product capabilities.

The firm noted that the latest investment comes as it prepares to scale its operations further and broaden its reach among job seekers and small businesses across India.

Operating in a vast but highly fragmented labour market, WorkIndia focuses on blue and grey collar employment across more than 50 categories, including delivery services, retail, telecalling, field sales and warehouse operations. Its services are widely used in smaller cities and towns, where formal recruitment networks are limited and employers often struggle to find reliable talent.

The platform has increasingly positioned itself as a hiring partner for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), offering quicker and more structured recruitment options to businesses that typically lack dedicated human resources teams.

“Blue and grey collar workers are the backbone of India’s economy. Our mission is simple, create a transparent, tech driven job platform for this workforce,” Nilesh Dungarwal, Co-founder and Chief Executive of WorkIndia, said.

WorkIndia’s investor list dates back to its early years and includes BEENEXT Capital, Beenos, Xiaomi, Persol Venture, SBI Tokyo, Insitor Impact Fund and the Yamauchi family office.

“Finding productive jobs for the large and growing blue-collar workforce is critical for sustained growth and social stability in India, and WorkIndia is leading the charge in transforming this space,” said Sanchayan Chakraborty, Partner at Aavishkaar Capital.

In January 2023, the company raised around $12 million in a pre Series B round led by SBI Holdings, the Yamauchi No.10 Family Office and other investors.

The blue and grey collar labour market remains under digitised and poorly matched to demand, particularly in Tier II and III and smaller towns. 

Platforms that work in this space attempt to address what many describe as structural information asymmetry by using mobile first tools, geo tagging and algorithmic matching. The scale of the opportunity helps explain continued investor interest.