Salesforce Ventures have ventured into India with their backing of tech start-up, HR company Darwinbox. The company that backed Zoom and Dropbox have set their sights on the Hyperabad SME after their claims the start-up has grown 300% in the last year. But what does this investment tell us about the future of the integration of business and technology?
Salesforce Ventures Invest in Indian HR Tech Start-Up
India’s commitment to improving their technology credentials seems to be paying off. Salesforce Ventures – Salesforce’s investment subsidiary – invested $15 million in Darwinbox. The company uses modern tech to revolutionize HR practices. The growth of 300% was clearly a factor in the decision and shows that the company’s ambitions for the future of HR could be worthy of further cash. The last time Darwinbox gained investment was September 2019, so it’s clear that the merging of business and technology of 2020 that allowed it to thrive has been significant in gaining the investment from Salesforce.
According to the company, 180 implementations for its HR arm were completed and it became a favorite in the field for the Asia Pacific region. The region is rapidly expanding their technological output, so moving to a tech solution for HR furthers this. The company claims their HR technology enables people to be engaged and empowered and to have their potential unleashed. Darwinbox are the HR partners of more than 500 enterprises globally with more than 1 million employees catered for. They planned to spend the money on a range of tech improvements, including faster innovation, data-led decisions, better apps, stronger security, and development of a community.
HR represents one of the most traditional industries and one that people often overlook. Indeed, the HR tech market is expected to be worth $34 billion by 2021 – with $3.6 billion (more than 10%) coming from India. So, it makes sense that Salesforce would set their sights there for their HR tech expansion. The industry has long been one to watch for the implementation of new technology to aid employees, employers, and the HR intermediaries who work with both.
Traditional Industries Merged with Digital Change
Despite the new technology, HR is still a deeply traditional industry. There has been a growing trend of traditional industries embracing digital change, which will likely continue well into 2021. For instance, the logistics industries has embraced the technology of blockchain to ensure the supply chain remains intact. Maersk joined the blockchain shipping platform back in 2019 to help coordinate its deliveries. This uses the ledger aspects of blockchain to strengthen the supply chain process itself.
Moreover, the integration of traditional table games and modern technology has resulted in a new way for customers to engage with the product, as we can see with online providers like Betway. The live versions of poker and blackjack allow players to see a dealer in front of them, merging tech with tradition. Elsewhere, even the Taj Mahal has an option for online exploration. The website merges traditional tourism with modern tech to allow those who can’t reach the Taj Mahal to have the experience of being there.
Digital music company TuneCore provides a way for budding musicians to have a platform online. This represents the move away from the traditional avenues of gaining popularity and success in the music field and shows how technology can further aid people. Furthermore, as the development of binaural headphones shows, the best way to make noise as a business is to boost the tech used. Music is already heavily tech-oriented, but these additions further ensure the industry benefits in the right way.
Darwinbox is a Digital India Success Story
Digital India is a huge campaign by the government to boost the credentials of India as somewhere that tech succeeds. Being seen to have such strong increases in revenue as Darwinbox has shown proves that the campaign is well-placed and helps position India as important on the world stage for technology. Foreign investment especially helps show that the campaign is working and will no doubt encourage further funding.
Salesforce Ventures’s investment in Darwinbox shows the power of the Indian region as a strong tech hub. It also indicates where technology and business may go further together to create new experiences befitting modern consumers. The investment is just one example of the development of modern technology. The progress of Digital India will no doubt continue and be further bolstered by the foreign investment in the tech-heavy HR start-up.