Women career engagement platform HerKey gets $4 million funding

HerKey, a career engagement platform for women in India has announced a $4 million funding round. The company formerly known as JobsForHer received funding from Kalaari, 360 ONE Asset (earlier known as IIFL Asset Management), and angel investors including Zia Mody, Puneet Dalmia, Pramit Jhaveri, Aditi & Shuchi Kothari, KP Balaraj, Ranjan Pai, Neeraj Bajaj, Akash Bhansali and others.

In a statement, the company said it seeks to address the gender gap in the Indian workforce. Only 20 per cent of women participate in the labour force against 60 per cent in China and 55 per cent in the United States. HerKey has helped women restart their careers after a break, and has grown to enable them to start, restart and rise in their careers.

Neha Bagaria, the company’s founder and chief executive officer, said, “We are grateful to our esteemed investors for their support in helping us create a more inclusive workforce for women in India.”

Bagaria’s leadership has overseen HerKey grow to service over 3.5 million women across India and is planning to scale to power 30 million women’s careers in India.

The companuies use HerKey to engage with women candidates in their career lifecycle, right from recruitment to retention to promotion. The 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.

At present, there are over 10,000 companies on the platform, and HerKey is inviting more companies to unlock opportunities, learning, and communities for women candidates on the platform, the company said in a statement.

“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”, Vani Kola, founder and managing director of Kalaari Capital, was quoted saying.

“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,” she added.

“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”, Nidhi Ghuman, Senior EVP, 360 ONE Asset, said.