27/4/2018 – GetLinks, a Thai recruitment startup that aids tech companies to find and hire talent, has recently closed a new funding round led by Australia’s SEEK Group and Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneur Fund.
The round was also participated by Thai conglomerate SCG’s venture arm AddVentures, strategic investors K-Ventures, Peterson Group, and Axis Capital Partners. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
The deal is highly strategic for the three-year-old startup given the two lead investors. ASX-listed SEEK operates employment services in 19 countries, including popular Southeast Asia portals JobStreet and JobsDB.
According to SEEK, its interest in GetLinks is centered around the startup’s digital focus which includes community events and a mobile app for job-seekers.
Founded in 2015, Bangkok-based GetLinks started an online headhunter service which curates and connects business to tech talents. It also partners with various offline tech event organizers to reach out to potential tech talents and companies.
Now, the startup has developed into a self-service marketplace offering a job finder app in six Southeast Asian countries and neighboring regions. The app connects potential employees to companies across the region.
“The nature of work has drastically changed. Digitalisation has created a huge demand for tech talents, whilst simultaneously resulting in an even greater loss of jobs due to automation,” said Djoann Fal, the co-founder and CEO of GetLinks.
“We founded GetLinks with the aim of solving this rapidly-growing digital gap, and with the support of key partners and ecosystem builders, we can continue to innovate and create new ways to create an adaptive talent community,” he added.
GetLinks currently has more than 500,000 profiles of developers, designers, and digital marketers on its platform and caters to over 3,000 companies operating in six major tech hubs in Asia.
With the proceeds from the funding, GetLinks is planning to expand from recruitment into offering skills and talent training programme and develop hyper-localized operating hubs across 11 markets.
Meanwhile, it will also grow its existing operations in Singapore, Korea, and India, as well as for expansion to other parts of Asia including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan.
The partnership with Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund will enable GetLinks to benefit from the investors’ network resources, experience and technology know-how. It will also pave the way for the startup’s expansion to Hong Kong.
GetLinks will also be able to benefit from the network of online employment marketplaces giant SEEK Group, which boasts operations across 18 countries.
“With SEEK Group’s expertise in building and growing employment marketplaces and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund’s resource support, GetLinks is well-positioned to become a most impactful HR tech platform in Asia and beyond,” added Keenan Kwok, the co-founder and chairman of GetLinks.
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