PERSOL HOLDINGS to Invest in Smartstaff

Updated：Sep 11th, 2023

Under the Group Vision “Work and Smile,” PERSOL HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (based in Minato-ku Tokyo; President and CEO: Takao Wada, hereinafter “PERSOL ”) to invest in Qikwork Services Private Limited（based in India; Co-founder & CEO：Arpit Dave, hereinafter “Smartstaff”）, a blue-collar staffing platform. The investment was made via PERSOL VENTURE PARTNERS LLC (based in Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takeyuki Kato, former “PERSOL INNNOVATION FUND LLC”), who leads the group in investment to create new businesses and services through open innovation.

Overview of Smartstaff

Smarstaff is a blue-collar staffing platform built for India's growing Manufacturing Industry.  The company helps manufacturers scale up their shop floor operations without having to deal with the hassles of finding and employing skilled manpower.  Over the past two years, Smartstaff has successfully recruited, trained, and employed 11,000 workers across 50 different manufacturers. Through their platform, they have facilitated 3 million shifts, resulting in workers collectively earning over INR 100 crore in wages.

Reference: Overview of PERSOL VENTURE PARTNERS

Message from Shingo Ishida, Partner and Head of APAC, PERSOL VENTURE PARTNERS

Smartstaff’s focus on building a full stack innovative model, proprietary technology and inroads into the Indian market has led us to back them. The team comes with strong backgrounds in building companies to scale. At PERSOL we are excited to work together with Smartstaff to become a prominent leader in the blue-collar staffing solutions space in India.

Message from Arpit Dave, Co-founder & CEO, Smartstaff
PERSOL Group has considerable experience in the staffing solutions space, and we are delighted to have their support in offering cutting edge solutions to the industry in India. We are looking forward to creating a much bigger impact on a nation-wide scale in India.

About PERSOL HOLDINGS < https://www.persol-group.co.jp/en/>

Since its founding in 1973, Tempstaff Co., Ltd. (now PERSOL TEMPSTAFF CO., LTD.) group companies have been involved in a wide range of businesses related to people and organizations by placing temporary and permanent staff to outsourcing services and design development. The holding company, formed in October 2008 as Temp Holdings Co., Ltd., changed its name to PERSOL HOLDINGS CO., LTD. in July 2017.
The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Prime Market (stock code 2181) and has recorded sales of 1,223.9 billion yen (fiscal year ended March 2023).