Apna app | The success story of the professional networking platform

Apna is a mobile application that helps millions of blue-collar workers find job opportunities and gain new skills. In addition, employers can also use the app to advertise job offerings. The list of employers includes Byju’s, Flipkart, Amazon, Big Basket, Swiggy, among others. Apna was founded in 2019 by Nirmit Parikh. In only 21 months, the startup became a unicorn and is valued at $1.1 billion. It became the fastest Indian startup to reach unicorn status. Currently, more than 16 million low-skilled workers use Apna to find jobs. These workers include drivers, carpenters, painters, beauticians, electricians, delivery personnel, and many more. The app is growing at an exponential rate. Here’s Apna’s success story.

About the founder

Nirmit Parikh

Nirmit Parikh is the founder of CEO of Apna. He graduated with a degree in Instrumentation and Control Engineering from Nirma Institute of Technology. Parikh further went on to study MBA (Master of Business Administration) at the Stanford School of Business. After finishing his masters, he went on to become the Vice-President at Kno, Inc. In 2009, he founded Incone Technologies. Later, Parikh founded another startup called Cruxbot. In 2013, he started working at Intel as the Director of New Products. After ten months, Parikh left Intel and started working at Apple. After almost two years, he quit his job at Apple and founded Apna. 

Apna’s history

Nirmit Parikh decided to create the Apna app after hearing about the difficulties faced by his family and friends in hiring people. He was shocked by the fact that how could there be a shortage of workers in the country when there are millions of people looking for such jobs. He soon realised that there is no network that can connect such workers to employers. Hence, he decided to start Apna and create millions of jobs. In addition to job opportunities, users may also use the app to improve their interview skills and more. 

Before starting his company, Parikh went undercover as an electrician to understand the problems faced by workers. Even now, the startup talks to over 15,000 users a day to get their inputs. Next, they started taking interviews and helped the workers improve their skills. Parikh said in an interview that every day people share how they were able to get a job due to Apna. Currently, the app is available in 11 Indian languages. In just under two years, the startup became a unicorn valued at $1.1 billion. Which increased blue-collar workers to employers, reached a valuation of $1.1 billion with a new funding round led by Tiger Global Management

Apna’s success story

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds and millions of people lost their jobs. Apna has helped these people find jobs and increase their earnings. Parikh plans to expand the app to the US, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa by early 2022. Around 16 million workers and 150,000 employers use the app. The app is growing at an exponential rate and Parikh hopes that people all around the world can access the app. In just two years, Parikh’s startup has reached new heights.

Apna’s story teaches us about hard work and dedication. Before creating the app, Parikh conducted extensive research and learned about the problems faced by blue-collar workers. In order to succeed, we should always be passionate about our work. Hard work is the key to success. Parikh left his high paying job at Apple and took a risk. He wanted to help others and succeeded in doing in creating jobs for 2.3 billion people. Finally, Never lose hope and always learn from your mistakes. 

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