If you’ve been on LinkedIn, you’ll know that it’s a very Professional platform with industry leaders and experts sharing their thought leadership insights regularly. However, it’s safe to say that there’s not many opportunities for blue and gray collar job searching, or networking. Say a plumber or a carpenter joins LinkedIn. There’s not much he/she can do to connect with his peers or find recruiters hiring through the platform. But another big problem in India when it comes to Professional Networking is that most of the workers across the country are not even aware of a platform like LinkedIn.
Apna, the Recruitment Start-up
Apna is a Professional Networking start-up created by an Apple alum. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it’s popular for its Professional Networking platform for blue and gray collar Indian workers. The start-up is bridging the networking gap for the low rung of workers in India. The platform is free to use for job seekers and provides them an opportunity to connect with the top recruiters in the country. They have a mobile app that goes by the same name which is available in multiple languages.
Professional Networking – The LinkedIn for Blue and Grey Collar workers
Apna is a pioneer in the blue and gray collar workforce sector of India. They are enabling the hundreds of low-skilled workers in India to create a digital professional identity for themselves and get access to high-quality jobs.
Apna’s services for India’s Workforce
On Apna’s platform, users can upskill themselves, join communities of job seekers in their own league and get employed. Users can connect with employers who are offering attractive jobs for their skillsets and discover opportunities they wouldn’t have stumbled upon otherwise. They also get a platform to submit digital applications and interact with potential employers. Other features of Apna which job seekers can benefit from include interview performance prep.
Designations available for skilled professionals
Technical roles are up for grabs for blue and gray collar workers. Also, job roles like Carpenter, Painter and Field Sales Agent are the prominent job opportunities available on Apna.
Apna’s numbers speak for itself
The total user base of Apna is averaging around the 10 M mark. The month of May saw 15 M job interviews conducted through their app. It currently hosts over 10,000 top-notch recruiters including unicorn start-ups. Apna’s market position is strengthened to the level that they can open their services in a new Indian city and drive 10,000 job interviews there in a span of two days.
Apna’s Differentiators – why are they different?
Their main differentiator is that the platform is available in multiple languages. They are a vernacular professional networking platform for workers across India who are well-versed in their native, local languages. The next differentiator of the start-up is that they are giving recruiters an avenue to connect with hyperlocal candidates with relevant skills who are difficult to find otherwise. Employers can successfully find high quality talent on Apna with the lowest friction possible compared to traditional recruiting practices for the Blue and Gray workforce segment.
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Noteworthy start-ups in India offering conversational AI and voice based B2B solutions.
What’s in it for me?
The market for vernacular medium solutions in India is growing. Start-ups offering their services in multiple Indian languages can see massive increase in their target consumer base. Vernacular consumer tech start-ups targeting niche customers like gamers (Winzo), social networking app for farmers (Krishify), Instant Messaging app (ShareChat) and Apna are all seeing investor interest.
Consumer tech start-ups venturing into the vernacular space need to create special algorithms for Indian languages and dialects which will be the most challenging part. Due to the complex nature of Indian dialects that have micro variations depending on the geography, you will need to invest heavily in creating an error-free ecosystem for your product/service. You will also need to hire translators, language experts and programmers who can code comfortably in the language of choice. The Indian vernacular consumer base will be 540 M strong in 2022. There is a huge demand and supply gap in the hyper local consumer tech space which start-ups can attempt to fill.
