InCruiter looks to disrupt HR Tech with its Interview-as-a-service offering

The use of AI/ML algorithms by companies to offer comprehensive solutions to recruiters and highly personalized and contextual services to job seekers is now becoming commonplace

The HR technology industry is witnessing a new wave of innovation and investments which has led to the increasing integration of disruptive technologies in the sector.

The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) algorithms by companies to offer comprehensive solutions to recruiters and highly personalized and contextual services to job seekers is now becoming commonplace.

One such budding start-up, which aims to streamline the employee interview process with its Interview-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering, is InCruiter. Aside from offering a host of features that make the interview process more streamlined and efficient, the platform also deters foul play through the use of its algorithms.  

Founded in 2019 by Anil Agarwal and Ritu Mathran, InCruiter offers a robust suite of holistic video interview solutions, all of which can be accessed through a single platform. “Our solutions include InCServe, InCVid, InCFeed, InCExit, and InCSource. These can be fully integrated with any applicant tracking system (ATS) for seamless functioning,” Agarwal, who is also the company’s CEO, told Business Standard.

These services are designed for every stage of the interview process, from the job posting and shortlisting of candidates to interviewing and finally hiring them. “While many players in the ecosystem cater to different categories, what makes us different is that we cater to all segments with a clear vision to expedite the HR operations of our clients and help them focus on other core functions,” Agarwal said.

The platform uses a government-based Digilocker to assess a candidate’s authenticity before they join the interview. InCruiter’s algorithms analyse and match all their shared information, including their photo ID, using the Digilocker to run facial recognition with an Aadhar-registered database.

“We have also introduced more advanced features, for instance, our platform can detect when a second person enters or if the candidate is trying to cheat by opening other tabs during the interview. Likewise, we are also working on a more advanced solution that can detect if the candidate is using a smartphone, looking anywhere else from the screen, lip-syncing, or connecting any third-party device,” Agarwal added.

The start-up, which competes with other IaaS service providers like HirePro and eTeki, among others, is operating in a largely untapped market. The InCruiter platform, however, saw numerous prior iterations before the founders finally perfected the product.

After acquiring an engineering degree from Punjab Engineering College in 2011, Agarwal started working with a government-based company where he stayed for 8-9 years. Simultaneously, he was also associated with a product-based startup, where he came up with the idea of creating InCruiter.

During the same period, Mathran went for an interview where she realized that many companies still lack expertise in conducting interviews. This acted as a trigger to address this pain point through a technology business.

What resulted was, however, not the InCruiter platform as it is today. The duo started in 2018 with their first product, a similar IaaS platform. Over the years, they launched four more products with the intent to streamline and transform the virtual hiring process, following which InCruiter came into being.  

“In 2019, we started building InCruiter. However, it was difficult to gain traction initially because of our low market presence, eventually leading to trust issues with outsourcing interviews. Then COVID-19 hit the world and became our watershed moment as it pushed organizations to go digital,” Agarwal recalled. “IT talents were in high demand, and this is when companies started outsourcing their Interview process to platforms like ours.”

Today, the company works with a team of more than 2,200 interviewers and over 200 clients, including the likes of Mahindra and Practo, and has conducted more than 2 million interview minutes.

The last year brought a new wave of growth for the start-up. In 2022, the company witnessed a five-fold growth in revenue and a similar increase in its client base, Agarwal revealed. Furthermore, 120 out of InCruiter’s 200 clients were also brought in during the previous year. “We are expecting similar results going forward as well,” the optimistic CEO added.

The start-up is also planning international forays and is looking to launch its product in Dubai and the US market as well.

Earlier this year, the firm raised Rs 1 crore as revenue-based financing from Recur Club, an alternative funding platform. Before that, InCruiter was part of a $5 million funding round in April last year from GetVantage, another such platform.

Agarwal believes that venture capital should be the last resort for start-ups looking to meet their capital requirements. Regardless, InCruiter has put raising funds on the back burner until it completes its international forays. The bootstrapped company, Agarwal says, is profitable at the moment and in no rush to raise funds, despite increasing investor interest.

Since the deployment of disruptive technologies in the HR tech space is still at a nascent stage, industry watchers believe that growth in the sector will only accelerate going forward.