Darwinbox raises $40 million from Teachers’ Venture Growth to expand into North America market

Funding

HR tech Software-as-a-Service platform Darwinbox has raised $40 million from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, to accelerate its North American expansion and deepen investment in agentic AI capabilities.

The Hyderabad and San Francisco-headquartered company claims to have tripled its business year-on-year in North America since entering the market, serving global clients such as EXL, Virtusa, Nivea, WeWork, Zara, Starbucks and Adidas. Overall, Darwinbox supports HR operations for over 1,000 enterprises and four million employees across 130 countries.

The fresh funds follow a $140 million round in March 2025 led by Partners Group and KKR, with TVG acquiring its stake through a mix of primary and secondary transactions. Existing backers include Microsoft, Salesforce, Peak XV, Lightspeed, and TCV.

"We are pleased to partner with an exceptional team that has built and scaled Darwinbox into a leading HR technology company," said Darius Vakil, Director of TVG in India, adding that TVG would leverage its global network to support Darwinbox’s growth.

Co-founder Jayant Paleti said TVG's backing would help the company "build the next-gen HCM company, global by design, AI-first at the core."

Darwinbox was founded by Jayant Paleti, Rohit Chennamaneni and Chaitanya Peddi in 2015. The firm works in the human resources (HR) tech space, digitising functions such as attendance, payroll and employee onboarding.

In an earlier interaction, Chennamaneni told Moneycontrol that Darwinbox is set to reach $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by the second half of 2025, driven by its expansion in the US market and continued investments in AI (artificial intelligence)- driven solutions.

ARR is a key metric for subscription-based businesses, representing the predictable, recurring revenue a company expects over a year.

Darwinbox, which turned a unicorn in 2022 and with an IPO on the horizon, is prioritising scalability in the US and predictability in revenue growth before making its public market debut. The firm's customers include Tata, Adani, TVS and JSW among others.