Hyderabad-based HR tech startup Keka has raised $57 million in a Series A funding round from WestBridge Capital.
Launched in 2016 by Vijay Yalamanchili, Keka streamlines and automates payroll, recruiting, leave and attendance, and performance management among other things. The company said its customer base has crossed 5,500 in 2021, and currently facilitates the payroll of more than 1.5 million employees every month.
Speaking about the company, Vijay Yalamanchili, Founder & CEO of Keka, said,
Business today means serving both customers and employees. While there have been plenty of tools to cover the customer experience, employee experience has taken a back seat. Businesses can no longer afford to do that. We want to help organizations focus better on their core asset – the employees.
On the funding, Vijay said,
I believe we raised funding at the right time. We have been the fastest-growing HR Tech leader in our space. Although we got several offers for funding in the past, we never felt the timing was right. Finding the right investment partner was also significant for us. We wanted to partner with someone who had a long-term vision for the HR tech space. I am happy that we found the right investing partner in WestBridge Capital.
With the funding, the company said it will build a world-class product within India, and further enhance its offerings and bolster customer support. Talking about the company’s plans in the future, Vijay said research and development will be a primary area of focus, as it expands its engineering, product, and customer support teams.
Rishit Desai, Principal at WestBridge Capital, said,
Keka is disrupting the industry through its world-class product and highly reliable customer support. We are aligned with their vision to build the best mid-market focused global HR Tech Platform that will allow companies around the world to modernize their HR processes. We are very excited about Keka’s potential and look forward to a long partnership with the company.
Keka claimed it crossed $750,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2017 and achieved a 7x sales growth in 2020.
Keka’s customers range across sectors, including IT, EdTech, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, FinTech, professional service organizations, accounting, and taxation. Some of its prominent clients include upGrad, RazorPay, Dream11, Aditya Birla, Hitachi, OYO, and Grab, among others.
