BetterPlace taps Macquarie, Site Capital

The round valued BetterPlace between $500-$700 million and has increased the company’s total fundraise to $80 million till date, said co-founder Pravin Agarwal. “We will be deploying the fresh proceeds to fuel growth organically, which will comprise building more technology and products as well as catering to a larger audience,” he said.

In June, VCCircle first reported that BetterPlace is in talks with global venture capital funds to raise $50 million in a fresh round at nearly $400 million valuation. Besides, expanding its tech portfolio and capabilities, the company plans to grow its geographical footprint across Indonesia and Malaysia early next year.

“We are looking to establish ourselves across all Southeast Asian countries by mid next year. The region interests us due to a similar demographic and enterprise ecosystem, especially for the frontline segment. All Asean countries, hence, will fall in the bracket where we will eye strategic investments,” he added.

BetterPlace will also use the funds for more acquisitions and for consolidation within India and Southeast Asian markets.

The company has set aside $20 million for spending in the region next year, which it plans to boost to $60-100 million in the coming years. Founded in 2015 by Agarwala and Uday Singh, BetterPlace offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

It helps companies handle the entire lifecycle of their blue collar workforce by providing them services such as hiring, background verification and digital onboarding of a worker. It also offers training, attendance management, payroll services and compliance services. The company has a team of about 1,000 people, which it expects to grow by 20% in the coming year.

Agarwala said BetterPlace reported a fivefold growth in revenue in the year-ended March 2022 at about ₹275 crore.

For the current financial year, it is looking to achieve a threefold growth in revenue, besides posting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) by December-end, and net profitability in 2024.

“Healthy financial performance coupled with extensive innovation and growth has enabled BetterPlace to become one of the leading players in modernizing the largely informal sector of frontline workforce management,” said Amit Anand, founding partner at Jungle Ventures.

“As a company which was already on the pathway to hypergrowth, BetterPlace is set to achieve greater heights,” he added.

In September last year, BetterPlace raised $24 million in its Series C funding round. The investment round was led by returning investors Jungle Ventures and CX Partners.