While many people hope to pursue lucrative careers abroad, some are motivated by a different mission: to return to their roots and address important issues in their home country. Stanford graduate Nirmit Parekh is the founder and CEO of Apna, a blue-collar employment platform that addresses youth unemployment and quickly became India's youngest billion-dollar startup. It embodies this spirit.
Parekh's journey began in Mumbai, where he developed an innovative mindset from an early age. He was creating digital clock circuits by his age of 7 and delved into programming and robotics at age 13. His academic journey began at Nirma Institute of Technology in 2006.
In 2009, at the age of 21, he founded his first venture, Incone Technologies, focused on flood management. His leadership skills led to him being invited to the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper. Following this success, he founded his Cruxbox, which he eventually sold to Intel. He then served as Director of Data Analytics at Intel in the US, after which he earned his MBA from the prestigious Stanford Graduate School of Business.
After completing his MBA, Parekh joined Apple's iPhone product and strategy team in the US. However, recognizing that there is a huge gap in India,
Parekh even worked incognito as a factory worker to gain first-hand knowledge of the blue-collar employment environment. Just 22 months after its inception, Apna has achieved unicorn status, currently valued at $1.1 billion (Rs 9,016 crore). The platform has seen an impressive growth of 125% in his two years and is used by over 1.5 million prominent businesses in India, including Unacademy, BigBasket, Licious, WhiteHatJr, and Flipkart.
Accessible in 11 languages and operating in 28 cities, Apna has emerged as one of the largest professional networks in the recruitment industry, boasting over 10 million app downloads. Parekh's transformational journey reflects the power of entrepreneurship to address societal challenges and create impactful solutions.
