Apna is a one-of-a-kind professional platform that brings together job seekers, employers, and recruiters. It provides a comprehensive job search experience for people looking for work in 65+ categories like delivery, sales, back office, telecalling, hospitality, content writing, education and more.
The company has recently raised $70 million in a series-B round led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners. It said it will use the funding to grow and scale across India.
1. It is a platform for job seekers
Apna app is a platform that helps job seekers find the right jobs. It allows job seekers to create a profile and upload their resume. It also allows employers to post job openings.
It is an easy way to find the perfect job for you. The app is free to use and is available in many different languages.
Founded in 2019, Apna is India’s number one professional app for blue-collar workers. It provides services to users such as searching for jobs, scheduling interviews, and learning English.
As a result, it has helped millions of people find employment. The company is also working on developing AI models to help companies hire more effectively.
The app also helps job seekers get better jobs by allowing them to learn new skills and engage with professional communities. It is a safe place for job seekers to talk about their experiences and share gigs.
2. It is a platform for employers
Apna is one of the most popular career apps in India and a unicorn in its own right. The app helps people network, find gigs, and learn new skills to improve their employment prospects.
The apna app is also a place where they can discuss work-related problems, share gigs with each other, and collectively help each other grow. It’s a unique platform that’s free and offers lots of perks.
Founded by Nirmit Parikh, a former Apple executive, the company is building a scalable networking infrastructure that will connect skilled professionals like carpenters and painters with businesses looking to hire them. Its eponymous Android app currently boasts 70 communities for these specialized fields, and it plans to launch masterclass-like skilling modules, outcome or job based skilling, and peer-to-peer learning via vertical communities.
3. It is a platform for networking
Apna is an interactive professional networking platform that connects skilled workers. It also offers upskilling opportunities and provides career support.
This approach to upskilling has been a huge success for the app and has helped it become one of India’s largest job and professional networking platforms, with over 16 million users. It has also facilitated over 18 million job interviews to date.
Despite the huge growth, Apna is still a young company and has not yet achieved unicorn status, but it has managed to grow in a very short period of time. Here are some lessons you can learn from their journey:
The product team created over 30 versions of the mobile app in just a few months, constantly iterating on key engagement metrics. This process has enabled them to intensively understand their user base. This feedback is continuously channelled back into the app via weekly feature releases.
4. It is a platform for skill development
Apna app benefits skill development
The platform offers a community for 70+ job categories. These include carpenters, painters, telecallers and field sales agents. These communities help skilled workers connect with other workers and find local jobs.
Apna also offers training courses on a variety of skills. For example, it has an English group that allows members to learn conversational English for free.
Similarly, it offers interviews training and interview preparation sessions for employees. The company is currently working on building interactive digital masterclasses that will teach users specific skills for their jobs.
Before launching the app, founder Nirmit Parikh went undercover as an electrician and a floor manager to better understand the challenges that blue collar employees face when it comes to finding jobs. This understanding allowed him and his team to build a more effective solution for their users.