Japanese human resources tech (HR Tech) startup platform, Grooves Inc has successfully managed to secure a funding of US$7.3 million (approximately RM30 million) from JIC Venture Growth Fund and existing investor, Nanto CVC2 Fund.
Together with previous investments from existing shareholder Hiroshima Venture Capital Co., Ltd., a private investment from NISSAY CAPITAL CO.,Ltd. as well as a loan from a financial institution, Grooves Inc’s cumulative funding is worth a total of US$21 million (approximately RM86 million).
The investments will be used to expand Grooves’ user base, develop new features, and enhance partnerships with both JIC Venture Growth Investments Co., Ltd. and Nanto Bank Group. Grooves Inc will also be focusing on promoting the platform’s recruitment services in local areas in Japan such as Nara and Hiroshima while contributing to regional revitalization. Furthermore, the company is dedicated in its mission to achieve the 8th and 11th United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – “Decent work and economic growth” and “Sustainable Cities and Communities.”
“We would like to express our gratitude towards our partners for their trust and confidence in us as we continue to invest in innovation and eventually become a leading HR technology platform. As we continue to grow Grooves, we are proud to have brought together the technology, the team, the partners and a user base of passionate software developers to navigate this new world of remote learning,” said Grooves Inc’s Chief Executive Officer, Yukihiro Ikemi.
“The declining rate of the working population in Japan and the overconcentration of the population in Tokyo are important social issues. We are convinced that the creation of further matching of talents with local companies and the speeding up of the recruitment process of regional financial institutions by Grooves will help improve the liquidity of the labour force and solve the shortage of local manpower,” said Chief Executive Officer of JIC Venture Growth Investments Co., Ltd., Mr Hideki Yarimizu.
In Malaysia, Grooves is provider for IT talents through their job platform, forkwell.io and is actively involved in connecting IT talents to jobs globally.
“Our main focus is to help IT talents connect with jobs that match their working style and culture, We belive that everyone can find work anywhere in today’s ever-connected society and we want to help companies and individuals that think alike to find one another easily,” Yukihiro said.
“Tech talents in Malaysia are highly educated and they possess a high English proficiency. This combined strength will propel them to achieve a higher performance benchmark within their industry and ultimately play an important role when allocated to the right company,” he added.
Grooves currently has more than 9,000 listed Japanese corporations within its platform. Moreover, the company has its own IT engineer career support platform called Forkwell which has shown promising growth within its developer community.
