HerKey, the leading career engagement platform for women in India, has announced a $4 million funding round from Kalaari, 360 ONE Asset, earlier known as IIFL Asset Management (IIFL AMC), and angel investors including Zia Mody, Puneet Dalmia, Pramit Jhaveri, Aditi & Shuchi Kothari, KP Balaraj, Ranjan Pai, Neeraj Bajaj, Akash Bhansali and others.
Formerly known as JobsForHer, HerKey has transformed into a career engagement platform that unlocks opportunities, learning, and communities for women in India by connecting them with career champions. The platform seeks to address the gender gap in the Indian workforce, where only 20% of women participate in the labor force, compared to 60% in China and 55% in the United States. The company started by enabling women to restart their careers after a break, and it has grown to enable women to start, restart and rise in their careers.
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Neha Bagaria, the Founder and CEO of HerKey, expressed her excitement at the funding round, stating that “We are grateful to our esteemed investors for their support in helping us create a more inclusive workforce for women in India.” Under Neha’s leadership, HerKey has grown to service over 3.5 million women across India and plans to scale to power 30 million women’s careers in India.
Companies use the HerKey platform to engage with women candidates in their entire career lifecycle, from recruitment to retention to promotion. HerKey’s services are designed to support companies in building a diverse and inclusive workplace, attracting and retaining top talent, and creating a positive impact on their business. Currently, there are over 10,000 companies on the platform, and HerKey invites more companies to unlock opportunities, learning, and communities for women candidates on the platform.
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“A crucial aspect of India’s economic ascent in the coming decade will be increasing participation of women in the workforce. A digital platform like Herkey is the need of the hour to make progress towards this goal. HerKey helps women exchange diverse knowledge, perspectives and enables them to interact without being constrained by time and location. Neha, as founder and CEO, has done a stellar job in creating pathways for many women to come back into the workforce after a break. We have been impressed by HerKey’s growth trajectory and look forward to partnering with them as they redefine the landscape of women’s careers in India,” said, Vani Kola, Founder and Managing Director of Kalaari Capital.
The investment was backed by Kalaari Capital through its CXXO programme that seeks to build a vibrant community of women leaders to champion the next generation of women founder-CEOs for inclusive growth and opportunities to reach the top.
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Commenting on the announcement, Nidhi Ghuman, Senior EVP, 360 ONE Asset, earlier known as IIFL Asset Management, stated “We are thrilled to collaborate with Neha and her team in their efforts to establish a platform that enables women to excel and realize their maximum potential. Herkey, (formerly JobsforHer) has accomplished remarkable feats over the years, and the launch of this new platform is evidence of its commitment and achievements in recent times. Neha’s leadership, passion and commitment to this business and its purpose has been a strong motivator for us to commit further to this opportunity. On average 80% women on a career break look forward to coming back into the workforce and we are delighted to participate in this endeavour to empower women and promote a more inclusive and equitable society.”
As Neha Bagaria puts it, “We need to create a movement where everyone, including men, supports and champions women’s careers. By working together, we can create a more inclusive and equitable workforce, which will benefit all.”
About HerKey
HerKey (formerly JobsForHer) founded by Neha Bagaria is India’s career engagement platform that unlocks opportunities, learning, and communities for women in India by connecting them with career champions. HerKey currently services over 3.5 million women and plans to scale to power 30 million women’s careers in India.
With over 10,000 companies on the platform, HerKey invites more companies to join and use the platform to engage with women candidates in their entire career lifecycle, from recruitment to retention to promotion. HerKey seeks to be the dependable companion for every woman on her career journey, enabling her growth, opening up opportunities, creating meaningful engagement, and facilitating her career journey – onwards & upwards.
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About Kalaari Capital
Kalaari Capital is an early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm based out of Bengaluru, India. Since 2006, Kalaari has empowered visionary entrepreneurs building unique solutions that reshape the way Indians live, work, consume and transact. The firm’s ethos is to partner early with founders and work with them to navigate the inevitable challenges of fostering ideas into successful businesses. At its core, Kalaari believes in building long-term relationships based on trust, transparency, authenticity, and respect.
About CXXO
Launched in 2021, CXXO is a Kalaari Capital-backed initiative to level the playing field for Indian female founder-CEOs. Developed on the three primary pillars – Capital, Community, and Coaching – the CXXO community helps female founder-CEOs take India’s startup ecosystem to the next level as they shape India’s digital charter, creating exponential value in the economy.
About 360 ONE Asset
360 ONE Asset, earlier known as IIFL Asset Management (IIFL AMC,) a part of 360 ONE, earlier known as IIFL Wealth & Asset Management, is one of India’s leading alternates asset management firms with overall alternate assets and public market mandates of more than USD 7 billion. Venture Capital and Private Equity is a young and vibrant growth business.
It has approximately $3 billion in AUM, extending from Mid-Stage to Late-Stage Venture Capital to Growth Equity to Pre-IPO investments, with a focus on technology, financial services, healthcare and consumer industries. This unique private market platform enables us to participate in a company’s life cycle over a longer period of time.
