Funding Alert

Jobs aggregation platform OTU India raises $1 million in funding

• ByStartupStory     |    January 6, 2023

Blue-collar jobs aggregation startup OTU India, based in Bengaluru, has received about $1 million in seed funding from Rainmatter Investment, Bhilwara’s Sangam Textile Group, and a Bengaluru-based Mittal Steel Group.

OTU India, which was established in 2021 by Pratik Maheshwari and Akhilesh Kothari, both graduates of BITS Pilani, also receives guidance from Vishal Mehta of Infibeam Avenue Ltd., who sits on the organization’s board. The startup provides prospective employers with a video feature in which it creates a profile for candidates and uses technology to connect them to organized employers throughout the nation.

The company’s website lists a number of businesses that have already begun posting relevant jobs on this portal, including e-commerce giant Amazon, hospitality companies like Taj Hotels, Lemontree, and Ramada, retailers like Reliance Digital, Star Bazaar, and D-Mart, and quick service restaurants (QSRs) like McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza.

“Currently more than one lakh candidates have already registered on the OTU portal, and an equal number of job vacancies are available,” said Maheshwari, co-founder and chief executive of OTU India. “OTU is in talks to raise around $5 million (about Rs 37.50 crore) in a pre-series A round in the next few months to meet technology, customer acquisition, and other costs.”

Maheshwari stated that the startup’s goal is to sign up one million users in the following two quarters due to the lack of a formal system for matching verified low-income job seekers with potential employers.

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a central government organization that promotes skill development, and the company have already cooperated. Additionally, a partnership with the National Career Service (NCS), an employee registration service established by the Ministry of Labor & Employment and home to more than 15 million registered candidates, is in the works.

“We have crossed the initial hurdle of the pilot test in Rajasthan, and after a significant portion of the user base obtained jobs, we are looking to roll out this service nationally,” said Kothari, cofounder of OTU India. “In the primary phase, we are going to increase our presence in the largely Hindi-speaking belt, and subsequently, we will roll out services in the entire country.”

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