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Vahan.ai secures strategic investment from Temasek’s LemmaTree, acquires L.earn

EntrackrEntrackr · 9d ago
Vahan.ai secures strategic investment from Temasek’s LemmaTree, acquires L.earn
Medial

Vahan.ai, a recruitment platform for blue-collar workers, has announced a strategic investment from LemmaTree, an investment firm founded by Temasek. Alongside this transaction, Vahan.ai has also acquired L.earn, the digital learning and upskilling tech platform of GoodWorker, which was backed by LemmaTree. The proceeds will primarily be used to enhance Vahan.ai’s proprietary tech stack, including the development of advanced AI capabilities tailored for large-scale, multilingual recruitment. Based in Bengaluru, the company says that acquiring L.earn adds a powerful skilling layer to its offering. L.earn provides mobile-first, vernacular content tailored for gig and frontline workers in sectors like logistics, manufacturing, and retail. By embedding modular skilling journeys directly into the job-seeking process, Vahan.ai will empower workers to improve employability, access better-paying roles, and build long-term careers. According to market research, India’s blue-collar workforce is set to drive 70% of the country’s new employment growth by 2030. This segment is also experiencing wage increases, with blue-collar jobs growing at a rate of 5.7% annually. Vahan has placed over 1 million workers across more than 920 cities and currently facilitates approximately 40,000 job placements per month for employers such as Zepto, Swiggy, Blinkit, and Zomato. The platform plans to expand support to eight additional Indian languages, enabling deeper access for job seekers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Vahan.ai also aims to enter new high-growth sectors while accelerating its footprint across India and select international markets such as Southeast Asia and the MENA region. Vahan bridges gaps in digital literacy, language barriers, and infrastructure. At its core is a voice-based AI recruiter powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o, capable of conducting human-like conversations with job seekers in English and Hindi over a simple phone call. This AI layer streamlines the hiring journey—from job discovery and application to interview scheduling—overcoming traditional barriers like digital literacy, language, and infrastructure. To date, Vahan has raised $23.7 million from Khosla Ventures and others.

Exclusive: Lendingkart raises Rs 100 Cr debt from Stride Ventures

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Lendingkart raises Rs 100 Cr debt from Stride Ventures
Medial

Small and medium enterprises focused digital lending platform Lendingkart has secured Rs 100 crore ($12 million) in debt and Rs 8 crore (nearly $1 million) in equity from Stride Ventures. This is the second major debt closure by the Ahmedabad-based firm in the past year. The board at Lendingkart has passed a board resolution to issue 10,000 non-convertible debentures and 454 Series D5 CCPS to raise Rs 108 crore or $13 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the RoC shows. As per the filings, the Temasek-backed company has raised Rs 318 crore ($38 million) in debt to date. Lendingkart will receive the debt fund in two tranches of Rs 50 crore ($6 million) each and it will carry a coupon rate of 14% per annum. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the company has been valued at around $690 million post-allotment. Just last month, LendingKart raised $10 million through external commercial borrowing (ECBs) from a fund managed by BlueOrchard. As of now, Lenskart has mopped up Rs 1,050 crore ($126 million) in equity capital from investors like Fullerton, Bertelsmann, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, Sistema Asia and India Quotient. Lendingkart disburses loans with an average ticket size of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh to MSME business owners. As per its website, it has disbursed over Rs 18,700 crore to over 300,000 businesses present in 4,100 cities. Lendingkart performed well in FY23 as its revenue from operations grew by 33.4% to Rs 858 crore. Meanwhile, the firm also posted Rs 119 crore profit in the same period. It’s yet to file annual financial results for FY24. As per a media report, the company is planning for an initial public offering (IPO) by next year. Lenskart is targeting to cross Rs 10,000 crore in assets under management before going public.

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