Online job portals in India have definitely gained traction amid the pandemic but the blue-collar jobs segment is still highly overlooked. Moreover, with the surge in people looking for jobs remotely, the number of people maliciously exploiting it has increased as well, thus widening the need-gap. Amidst all these, Waahjobs is one such portal that has been making its mark in the job market in the recent times.
From Aasaanjobs to Waahjobs – The Brand Story
It all started with one common goal of five IIT Bombay alumni. Back in 2013, the blue/grey collar jobs segment in India was highly unregulated. Leveraging the untapped opportunity of the market, five IITians – Dinesh Goel, Ishank Gupta, Kunal Jadhav, Gaurav Toshniwal and Aditya Gupta founded Aasaanjobs. Their objective was to enable job seekers and employers to find each other on a common platform.
While Dinesh worked at Deutsche Bank, two of his fellow co-founders Ishank Gupta and Kunal Jadhav worked at the Boston Consulting Group and FlexTrade respectively. On the other hand, Gaurav Toshniwal and Aditya Gupta had already founded other companies prior to Aasaanjobs.
First milestone and acquisition
Investment of around $1.5 million garnered from Inventus and IDG Ventures was one of the first milestones that the company achieved. The following year, it raised about $5 million in a Series A round led by Aspada Capital Advisors LLP.
In January 2019, OLX acquired the online hiring marketplace for an undisclosed amount. The state-of-the-art technology that Aasaanjobs used, its wide reach and the ever-growing job market led OLX to acquire the company and unify its position in India’s job sector. The acquisition has been instrumental in the expansion of Aasaanjobs across several cities.
Rebranding of Aasaanjobs
In February 2021, Aasaanjobs was rechristened to Waahjobs. The rebranding was done in OLX Group’s bid to better align the job portal with the company’s value proposition – of providing credible jobs from verified employers. The new brand name also depicts the ‘waah’ experience that it wants to create for job seekers. The same has been reflected in the new logo as well – a crisp and bold typeface with vibrant orange and purple.
“The new brand identity is not only current and modern but reflects our core ethos of helping job seekers succeed and reach new levels of success”, said Tarun Sinha, CEO, Waahjobs & OLX People.
Predominantly catering to blue and grey-collar job seekers, Waahjobs has addressed a number of recurring challenges in the job market since its inception. A portal that was launched by a team of five, today, it boasts of more than 10 lakh downloads on Google Play Store. With time, market trends are changing and companies are increasingly resorting to virtual means while hunting for skills and talent. Thus, Waahjobs is looking to tap into this changing market trend and evolve accordingly as well in the coming time.