TapChief, an India-based professional networking platform backed by payment services provider Paytm, has been acquired by online education platform developer Unacademy for an undisclosed amount, the Economic Times reported yesterday.
The transaction valued TapChief at around INR1bn ($13.7m).
Founded in 2016, TapChief has developed an online networking platform that enables businesses to hire industry talent on a short-term basis.
The company also offers a range of services for freelance professionals such as connecting them to companies that are hiring globally, helping them learn from experts and assisting them with promoting themselves online.
TapChief had grown to more than 250 clients working with over 150,000 independent professionals registered to its platform.
The acquisition will enable Unacademy to establish a new product called Unacademy Pro. In a tweet published on Tuesday, Gaurav Munjal, co-founder of Unacademy, said the new platform would help its users become professionals and secure their dream job.
Blume Ventures supplied $1.5m to TapChief in December 2019, six months after the company raised $650,000 from investors including Paytm, 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, SucSeed Venture Partners, NuVentures and assorted angel investors.
Paytm also provided an undisclosed amount of funding for TapChief in 2016, following a $150,000 investment from TapChief’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma earlier that year.
Artificial intelligence-focused investment fund Sense AI has listed TapChief as a portfolio company on its website.