Local job website JobNet.com.mm has secured a 7-digit investment from an undisclosed “global institution fund” experienced in frontier markets, said the company’s CEO.
The undisclosed investment will be used to “ramp up” JobNet’s marketing and product development as online job applications experience a surge in popularity amid the country’s internet connectivity boom.
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors; it’s a real testament to the phenomenal traction and results we have achieved,” said Justin Sway, CEO of JobNet. com.mm.
“They’re a global institutional fund, they’ve got lots of investments, especially in frontier markets and in Europe, they’re no strangers to this market,” he told Myanmar Business Today.
JobNet has experienced rapid growth in the last few years and now boasts the highest traffic, applications and numbers of job seekers of any job site in the country, with over 40,000 applications per month, and partnerships with major clients including Ooredoo, MPT, UniLever and KBZ Bank.
“We’ve been watching Myanmar for quite afew years…we did a lot of preparation and planning so we grew at… lightening speed within that 18 months.”
The rapid growth of internet penetration in Myanmar, from 7 percent in 2014 to 90 percent in 2017, has seen job seekers move away from more traditional job seeking avenues such as newspapers in favour of online job sites, said Sway.
“People went on line very quickly and if you look at the number of [job] applications here 4 or 5 years ago you’d be lucky to get 1,000 a month, right now we get over 40,000 a month…” he said.
In 2013 JobNet received its first round of seed funding from Sway, also the owner of real estate portal ShweProperty. com, and then secured a second round in May 2015 – a joint investment from Sway and Jonah Levvy, founder of Vietnam job site Vietnamworks.com.
While JobNet’s growth is predicted to continue following the rapid uptake of internet across the country, the next focus, said Sway, will be on monetising its growing user base.
“We’re working very heavily to grow in line with that and monetise as quick as we can and as much as we can.”
Source: Myanmar Business Today
