Vahan raises USD 8 Million led by Khosla Ventures in Series A

The round also saw participation from Airtel, SHAKTI VC, Pioneer Fund, Spike Ventures, Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO, Paytm), Guru Gowrappan (Group CEO, Verizon Media and former Global MD, Alibaba), Kevin Shannon (former CFO, Harvard Management Company) and others.

These funds will allow Vahan to further scale its recruitment business and build new product offerings for its customer base which comprises gig-economy companies and blue-collar workers.

Madhav Krishna, Founder and CEO, Vahan said, “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Khosla Ventures. Their decision to double down on our business further validates the multi-billion dollar opportunity we have in front of us. We will continue to leverage our deep expertise in building large businesses using technology to take the company to the next orbit of growth.

"Our goal is to ensure that previously underserved blue-collar workers get access to opportunities across jobs, financial services and upskilling and our ambition is to make 1 billion placements over the next 10 years."

India has over 250 million blue-collar workers. With strong tailwinds coming off the pandemic, the highest demand for the blue-collar workforce is expected from the logistics and e-commerce sectors, as building delivery channels is important for internet businesses. Employers in this segment hire blue-collar workers under a flexible-work or “gig” model.

On their continued investment in Vahan, Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures said, “We are excited to continue backing the strong, mission-driven team at Vahan. The blue-collar worker recruitment opportunity in India is large and growing, and Vahan's ability to leverage technology in building value for both workers and employers at scale is exciting. Vahan is well-positioned to win this opportunity in India and beyond.”

According to a report by ASSOCHAM, India's gig sector is expected to grow to USD 455 billion at a CAGR of 17 per cent by 2024 and has the potential to grow at least double as compared to pre-pandemic estimates. Vahan’s customers include leading gig-economy majors- Zomato, Uber, Flipkart, Swiggy and Dunzo

Shravni Jain, Head of Supply Growth, India & South Asia, Uber said, “Vahan has been able to scale driver onboardings for Uber in key markets despite the challenging business environment. This has been made possible due to their unique understanding of both manpower and technology. I see them adding even more value to Uber's operations with their expansion into end-to-end worker management.”