The idea for Apna came to Nirmit Parikh in an unlikely setting — a movie theatre. While watching the film Gully Boy, one line stayed with him: “apna time ayega”. The phrase captured something he had been thinking about for years, that many people have ability and ambition, but lack access to the networks and opportunities that enable them to move ahead.
After completing his MBA at Stanford University, Parikh returned to India determined to build something around that idea. His view was that employment, a basic need, still functions through fragmented networks and opaque hiring processes. Technology, he believed, could lower those barriers.
“There is a clear information asymmetry. Talent exists, but access to opportunity and networks does not. Over time that gap only grows,” Parikh said.
The ambition was to create a platform that connects job seekers, particularly from white and blue-collar segments, with employers and professional communities. The idea became Apna in 2019, arriving at a time when Internet penetration was expanding rapidly and more companies were beginning to shift hiring online.
Parikh’s inclination toward building things began early. Growing up in a family of engineers, he spent time experimenting with
circuits and small machines. By his early teens he was writing code and building simple products.
At Nirma Institute of Technology, where he studied instrumentation and control engineering, the emphasis on breaking complex problems into manageable parts reinforced that instinct. “My parents always said it is okay to fail, but not okay not to try,” he said.
During that period he built an early venture called Incone, working on automation for hydropower dams after floods at the Ukai dam highlighted risks of manual monitoring. Later he founded Cruxbot, an artificial intelligence–based summarisation tool that was eventually acquired by Intel.
Those experiences shaped two conclusions for him. First, he enjoyed building companies. Second, hiring people quickly and efficiently remained harder than it should be.
Speaking to job seekers reinforced that view. Many described recruitment as slow, fragmented and dependent on personal networks rather than transparent systems.
Parikh decided to begin with small experiments. The earliest version of Apna was simply a WhatsApp group connecting job seekers. This evolved into a basic mobile platform where users could create a professional profile and interact with employers.
Rapid Scale-Up
With a team of about five people, the first version of the Apna app went live on the Play Store during a small event in Mumbai attended by around 100 job seekers. Within minutes, one participant secured an interview through the app.
“The cheer in that room is something I will never forget,” Parikh said. “That’s when I realised we were solving a real problem.”
The early months were improvised. The team worked out of a small apartment that doubled as both home and office.
Everyone handled multiple roles like product development, employer outreach, candidate onboarding and customer support. The team met job seekers and employers almost daily, refining the product through feedback.
The model relied heavily on network effects. As more users joined, more employers began listing openings, which in turn attracted additional candidates.
Growth accelerated quickly. Within two years the platform had expanded to more than 70 cities. Over the next few years it spread to about 900 cities. “Growth came from community,” Parikh said. “Every new user made the platform more useful for the next.”
Funding followed that expansion. In 2019 the company raised a $3 million seed round from Peak XV Partners. By 2021 Apna had reached unicorn status in about 21 months, one of the faster such trajectories among Indian startups.
The investor base expanded to include firms such as Tiger Global Management, Insight Partners, Lightspeed India, Owl Ventures, GSV Ventures and Greenoaks. The company has raised about $200 million so far.
Diversifying the Portfolio
Operationally, Apna has widened its scope beyond job listings. In 2023 the app became available in more than 20 languages across hundreds of cities, aiming to reach users beyond large urban centres. In 2024 the company signed a memorandum with All India Council for Technical Education to serve as a career portal for students from more than 12,000 colleges.
Financially, the company reported operating revenue of Rs 122 crore in FY25.
More recently, Apna launched Blue Machines, an AI–based voice platform designed for enterprise use and intended to be deployed quickly across hiring and operational workflows.
Despite those expansions, Parikh says the central objective has remained consistent since the early days.
“Our focus remains the same,” he said. “Create access to work, help employers hire better, and make businesses more consistent in how they operate.”