Heaptalk, Jakarta – Glints, an end-to-end regional talent ecosystem in Southeast Asia for career development and recruitment, raised US$50 million in a Series D oversubscribed round co-led by DCM Ventures, Lavender Hill Capital, and returning investor PERSOL Holdings.
The Series D round was also supported by other investors, including Endeavor Catalyst, chaired by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and existing investors, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Fresco Capital, and Binny Bansal, Co-Founder of Flipkart. The funding will be used to expand its talent supply base into the Philippines and globally and broaden Glints’ product and technology teams, focusing on enlarging opportunities and resources to support professional growth for talent.
“Our mission at Glints is to empower the 120 million professionals in Southeast Asia to realize their human potential. We believe people’s career is a journey. Therefore, an entire talent ecosystem needs to be built to support these talented professionals for their lifelong career development, not just once-off job matching,” CEO and Co-Founder of Glints, Oswald Yeo, said.
During its long journey, Glints’ annual revenue and gross profits grew 2.5 times year-on-year (YoY), continuing the trend of yearly incomes growing at triple-digit percentages off the back of the growth of its ecosystem. This platform increase is boosted by several features, including Recruitment, Managed Talent, Jobsearch, ExpertClass, and Community segments.
Glints’ cross-border remote work business also continues to double as employers shift to a more borderless mindset, and employers globally are increasingly interested in hiring Southeast Asia talent. Remote cross-border job opportunities on the Glints’ platform have increased more than ten times over the past two years, whereby recruiters are finding talent in markets outside remotely where their company operates. The company also sees positive contribution margins across all business units, with Indonesia and Vietnam markets continuing to be profitable.
Leading the round, the General Partner of DCM Ventures, Ramon Zeng, delivered a statement, ” We are excited to partner and be part of the Glints’ journey. The Southeast Asia tech talent market is maturing rapidly and is poised to be a strong contender for both tech innovation and strong talent,”
Further, Zeng also revealed that her parties had been impressed by Glint’s team mission in building and nurturing a talent ecosystem enabled by tech that profoundly impacts the millions of professionals on its platform and its thousands of employers. All while scaling rapidly with a focus on robust fundamentals.
With a talent-first approach, Glints’ regional talent ecosystem has enhanced to over three million professionals in five markets, covering Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Also, this Singapore-based job recruitment platform has seized well-recognition by over 50,000 global and regional startups and enterprise clients, including AIA, IKEA, GetGo, KKday, and Gameloft. In addition,
Glints’ on-the-ground teams in Southeast Asia have enabled two times more efficiency based on fill-rate in recruiting the right talent for employers and at least 40% more cost-efficient than traditional recruiters.
As stated by Chief Technology Officer of AIA Singapore, Gunawan Chiu, “The Glints’ team is one of the most prominent talent resources in the region that has a proven track record in serving our company’s needs well. We have certainly benefited from their services, especially in achieving time and cost savings,”
Likewise, the Founder of Lavender Hill Capital, Xiaoyin Zhang, also conveyed her impression of Glint’s ability to adapt to market shifting by delivering splendid enhancement while maintaining financial health during the global pandemic over the past three years.
“Glints are at the forefront of the future of talent recruitment. Today’s professionals are becoming more open to remote working, and employers searching for the right talent at the right cost have become flexible in where they find the talent. Glints have been swift in anticipating future work needs and quick in the execution to address such needs,” concluded Zhang.
