Hiring platform Unstop raises $5 million from Japanese firm Mynavi and others

Community engagement and hiring platform for students and graduates Unstop has raised $5 million funding, the company announced on Wednesday (August 2). The round was led by Mynavi, Japan’s leading job board and HRTech firm.

In the round, Coursera, one of the largest online learning platforms in the world with operations in India; Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, and Pankaj Bansal, through his fund Caret Capital, also participated.

"Mynavi is dedicated to addressing challenges in India by investing in start-ups for HR and education. Supporting Unstop can make our vision a reality by working towards bridging skill gaps for freshers and professionals. We are excited to collaborate as a major HR provider in Japan and expand Unstop," said Hidekazu Ito, MD, Mynavi Solution India.

Unstop was founded in 2017 by Ankit Aggarwal. It is a place for talented people to develop their abilities, show off their talents, build their resumes, and find employment as they go through their academic careers. It enables them to land a job and begin their career.

Through innovative engagements that concentrate on assessing students' practical abilities, the startup says that it strives to guarantee that businesses locate the proper people. By employing the best individuals from across the globe rather than from a small number of institutions, Unstop claims to democratise the hiring process.

"Technology platforms may become interchangeable; however, building a community and ecosystem takes ages and eventually sets you apart. This funding is a significant milestone for Unstop as our investors form a unique blend, coming together from various parts of the world and different domains (EdTech + HRTech), and supporting us in our journey with their vote of confidence on our robust proposition. This fresh capital will enable us to drive growth on all fronts and achieve our goals," said Aggarwal.

Ustop claims to be a talent community of around 6 million students and early talent from over 20,000 colleges, attracting nearly 2 million monthly active users. It has more than 800 brands like Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance, TATA Sons, HUL, Reckitt, Accenture, EY, Infosys, and Wipro, as well as other top recruiters working to engage and hire from this community.

In February, the company got selected for Shark Tank India Season 2 and received an offer of Rs 5 crore for 10 per cent stake dilution. But Aggarwal refused the offer.

The discussions, debates, and counter-offers followed until Unstop accepted a Rs 2 crore offer in exchange for a 4 per cent stake. However, the deal was neither completed nor disclosed, according to Unstop's spokesperson.

"It was fantastic to receive offers from the Sharks and it was a defining moment for us as a brand. However, being a bootstrapped company with money in the bank and being profitable at Gross as well as at net level, we were looking for more strategic investors to come on board. Investors who could help us go global and help us with their inputs," commented Aggarwal after an offer by Sharks.