HR Tech Unicorn Darwinbox Bags $40 Mn To Expand In North America

Darwinbox Concludes INR 86 Cr ESOP Buyback

SUMMARY

HR tech unicorn Darwinbox has bagged $40 Mn (about INR 335 Cr) from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s late-stage investment arm Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG)

Darwinbox said that the funding will be used for global expansion, especially in North America, and further investment in AI features for its human capital management (HCM) platform

The startup claims to serve over 1,000 enterprises and 4 Mn employees across 130 countries. It counts Starbucks, Nivea, AXA, Cigna, WeWork, Crisil, Adidas, Zara, and Apollo.io among its clients

Months after raising $140 Mn, HR tech unicorn DarwinBox has bagged $40 Mn (about INR 335 Cr) from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s late-stage investment arm Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). The round was a mix of primary and secondary funding.

In a statement, Darwinbox said that the funding will be used for global expansion, especially in North America, and further investment in AI features for its human capital management (HCM) platform.

Founded in 2015 by Jayant Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi, and Rohit Chennamaneni, Darwinbox provides a cloud-based HCM suite. Its HRMS platform supports essential HR functions, including core HR, payroll, recruitment, performance management, and employee engagement.

The startup claims to serve over 1,000 enterprises and 4 Mn employees across 130 countries. It counts Starbucks, Nivea, AXA, Cigna, WeWork, Crisil, Adidas, Zara, and Apollo.io among its clients.

The unicorn claimed that it has tripled its revenue in North America since entering the market in 2023, and recently became the first HCM platform to support the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for secure AI agent interaction.

Notably, in FY24, the startup reported a 58% YoY increase in total revenue to INR 393 Cr. Its EBITDA margin improved by 17 percentage points during the year.

The latest funding round came over five months after Darwinbox raised $140 Mn (about INR 1,218 Cr) in a round co-led by Partners Group and KKR, with participation from Gravity Holdings, in March. The round was aimed at accelerating global expansion and deepening the startup’s tech stack, with it claiming a fivefold increase in international revenue over the previous couple of years.

Overall, Darwinbox has raised a total funding of nearly $300 Mn to date from the likes of Microsoft, Salesforce Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed, TCV, KKR, and Partners Group. The startup entered the unicorn club in 2022 after a $72 Mn Series D round.

The startup competes with the likes of BetterPlace, GetWork, among others, in the burgeoning HR tech market in India and across the world.