Darwinbox boosts Middle East expansion after the latest funding round

Darwinbox, Asia’s fastest-growing HR digital platform, has raised USD72 million in a new fundraising round, with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region selected as a key growth area in its next phase of global expansion. The company’s valuation has now surpassed USD1 billion, bringing the total amount raised to over USD110 million.

Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), based in the United States, led the newest round of funding, with Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures joining as strategic investors. Since its latest round of funding from Salesforce Ventures exactly a year ago, the company has expanded by 200 percent and attracted more than 700,000 users to its platform.

Darwinbox’s cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) platform, which was founded in 2015, caters to corporate and public sector HR demands across the employee lifecycle. More than 1.5 million employees from 650+ companies around the world use the new-age HR software platform to manage their digital HR. In the region, Darwinbox supports leading global brands such as Nivea, Starbucks, Sephora, Zara, and AXA, as well as Lulu Group, Aramex, and Mobily Infotech.

Darwinbox’s goals will be boosted by the fresh capital, which will enable the firm to accelerate its platform innovation agenda and expand its go-to-market presence in MENA, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The company plans to invest aggressively and increase its staff in the UAE, with its regional office situated in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In addition, it is planning to open its next GCC office in Saudi Arabia in the near future. Darwinbox will debut its Arabic mobile app specifically suited for MENA employees later this year, prioritising product development for the area.

Darwinbox’s agile and intuitive HR technology platform helps businesses achieve better business outcomes by increasing labour productivity, improving cost efficiency, and providing smarter experiences for today’s workers. Darwinbox HCM has pioneered breakthroughs such as Voicebot for HR, facial recognition-based touchless attendance, and several other features that are important to managing the post-pandemic workplace, thanks to its advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities.

 “Markets across the Middle East, especially in the UAE and KSA, have some of the world’s highest smartphone penetration rates and a growing young population that’s digital-savvy. The pandemic was a significant inflection point for Middle Eastern enterprises, with a majority adopting remote and hybrid work practices. At Darwinbox, we understand that people are at the core of every successful enterprise, and we will work closely with companies across the region to deliver a disruptive, modern, and intuitive experience to their workforce,” shared Jayant Paleti, Co-founder at Darwinbox.“With this funding, Darwinbox will accelerate its expansion across the MENA region, aiming for a 400% growth by the end of 2022.”

Darwinbox is the newest and only Asian-owned company in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for enterprise human capital management. It also has the highest customer review rating (4.8) on Gartner’s Peer Insights platform, beating out global giants like SAP, Oracle, and Workday – a position it earned thanks to innovative technology, a deep understanding of market context, an intuitive user experience, and strong customer traction.

Expanding on the product investments, Chaitanya Peddi, Co-founder and Product Head at Darwinbox, added: “Building for agility and delivering stellar employee experience has been critical in defining success for Darwinbox’s customers. We will continue to invest in new and innovative technology to deliver a frictionless experience for the work-from-anywhere workforce. In continuation to our vision of building a product that prioritizes local compliance and context, significant focus has been directed towards product development tailored to the MENA region.”

“Investing behind technology to manage talent has become inevitable for organizational success. Darwinbox’s demonstrated ability to build agile, innovative, and user-friendly solutions along with deep customer centricity has made them a platform of choice for several leading enterprises,” added Jessica Neal, former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, and a Venture Partner at TCV.

“We’re excited to partner with them on their journey to global HCM leadership,” she added.TCV is known for its investments in disruptive tech brands like Netflix, Facebook, Spotify, Airbnb, GoDaddy, and Gitlab.