Companies look to ramp up tech capabilities, hire more people: Report

Companies like Byju's, Meesho, Vedantu will use funds to expand employee base

With fresh funding from giants like SoftBank helping prod up their finances, many companies are looking to hire more people in key technology and leadership areas, with special focus on edtech, fintech and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Startups look to launch new products, ramp up tech capabilities and expand leadership.

Byju's, which recently acquired Aakash Educational Services for $1 billion, is aiming to hire up to 8,000 people in the next year, including top-level executives.

“As we expand our footprint, we plan to scale up our recruitment in technical and non-technical roles," Pravin Prakash, chief people officer at Byju's, told Mint.

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"Technology hiring will take centre stage this year at Byju’s. The team is steadfastly launching new products and looking at skilled tech and product professionals in the artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and analytics divisions," Pravin told the publication.

Social commerce plafrom Meesho, which recently raised $300 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, will use the funds to strengthen its talent pool across verticals -- tech, product, and business, among others.

“We are doubling the tech and product team and will also strengthen the senior leadership," Meesho founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey told the newspaper.

Read | IT companies set to hire record 1.8 lakh employees in 2021

Meanwhile, educational technology brand Vedantu on Tuesday said it is planning to hire 2,500 persons between April and June to support the company's next phase of growth.

Currently, the company's strength is 6,000, which will grow to 8,500 employees after the team expansion, Vedantu said in a statement.

The hiring will be across functions including product, technology, academics, business and marketing.

"Our people have a pivotal role in creating this experience and impact. With the boom in online learning adoption, we aim to hire highly driven and inspired individuals who can become part of the Vedantu mission," Vedantu CEO and co-founder Vamsi Krishna said.

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Another e-learning firm, upGrad, said that that its employee base grew 3x in 2020, and it aims to reach more aggressive milestones not only in India but in select overseas markets this year, according to the report.

Anshul Lodha, regional director at executive search firm Michael Page India, said alongside consumer tech and edtech firms, SaaS and fintech firms that have raised funding and witnessed high demand will steer the new hiring spree.

“After massive hiring last year, startups are focusing on building out tech teams as they diversify product portfolios and leadership roles in various capabilities," Lodha told the publication.

Besides startups, bigger companies like Myntra and Amazon are also looking to hire more people, with Myntra looking to add 15 per cent of its headcount in hiring this year, and Amazon looking to hire across various verticals like IT, content, retail, logistics and manufacturing.

(With agency inputs)