Monster.com raises Rs 137.5 cr, valued at Rs 750 cr

Online talent platform, Monster.com has raised Rs 137.5 crore in a fresh funding round led by prominent industry leaders – Akash Bhanshali (Volrado Venture Partners) and Mohandas Pai (Meridian Investments) with participation from Quess, which acquired Monster. Post the funding round, the company is valued at close to $100 million (Rs 750 crore). The current close has been done at Rs 112.5 crore with an option built-in to expand the round to Rs 137.5 crore, as per an official statement.
 
The company said that the funds raised will be utilised towards enhanced investments on product development and marketing in India, South-east Asia and Middle East markets. This investment will help Monster.com evolve from a job-board into a talent platform delivering full stack experience for both candidates and companies.
 
“We are very excited about the market opportunity in talent acquisition as people become the most important currency for every business. The last year has been incredible for the company, achieving very healthy growth across all metrics. We have an exciting product and business road map in line with our view on how hiring will evolve in the next few years. The participation of visionary investors with long term outlook is a tremendous vote of confidence in Monster’s ability and vision in building India’s premier talent market place platform,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO – Monster.com, APAC & ME.
 
In 2018, Quess Corp acquired Monster.com’s businesses in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a strategic investment to strengthen its HR services portfolio by establishing end-to-end offerings across the Employee Lifecycle Management space. Quess’ market leading presence in turn offered Monster the opportunity to enhance its capability by building and implementing innovative technology platforms to gain edge over competition.
 
“Monster.com is poised to redefine the jobs market by building tech workflows that puts the candidate at the center of the universe of innovation and possibilities. The next 2 years will see a huge increase in available jobs, thanks to high economic growth, and job seekers will find a high-quality platform to plan their careers here. As employers also prepare for a new decade and an employee-first mindset, the platform will help them create a differentiated experience and build deeper relationships with their teams from day one. Meridian Investments is proud to partner with Monster.com in this exciting and important vertical,” Mohandas Pai said.
 
Monster.com today has over 60 million active users in India. The business, which also has a presence in SEA and Middle East markets, has launched several product innovations over the last three years to improve the experience of recruiters as well as job seekers. The company said that it has seen significant growth across key business metrics like sales (60 per cent growth YOY), customer retention (70 per cent growth YOY) and active user base (170 per cent growth YOY) etc. Key health indicators like recruiter searches and consumption have also shown over significant improvement.
 
“When Quess acquired Monster for an investment of Rs 145 crore, we embarked on a ‘Digital First’ journey with the objective of creating long term value for our shareholders and clients. This investment represents the validation of progress that has been made by the team and the capital infused will accelerate the transformation towards building Monster into a category defining company,” Ajit Isaac, Executive Chairman, Quess Corp, said.