Airtel increases stake in AI-based job platform, Vahan

Bharti Airtel announced on Thursday that it has increased its stake in artificial intelligence-based job platform, Vahan. It stated that it will acquire an additional 2.86 per cent stake in Vahan, which will take its stake in the company to 11.68 per cent. The telecom giant had picked 8.82 per cent stake in the Bengaluru-based startup in October, 2019. The completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

The telecom giant stated that it aims to support the growth of early stage tech startups and partner with them in building significant scale through its Startup Accelerator Program. The increase in its stake of Vahan is part of the Startup Accelerator Program.

The additional stake was picked at an undisclosed sum and is likely to be completed by June 30, 2022. “Acquisition of the shares of Investee company is done at mutually agreed post money enterprise valuation. The said valuation is not disclosed herein due to reasons of confidentiality,” Airtel stated in a BSE filing.

Incorporated in the US on April 6, Vahan was founded by Madhav Krishna. The startup uses artificial intelligence based technology to match job seekers and employers. It is backed by YCombinator and Khosla Ventures.

Vahan has a subscriber base of 300 million people, as mentioned in its website. It claims to reduce sourcing costs by up to 30 per cent, and reduce turnaround time by up to 20 per cent, apart from reducing dependence on hundreds of recruitment vendors. BusinessToday