Artificial Intelligence
Vahan.ai Secures Major Funding, Acquires L.earn to Transform Blue-Collar Hiring with AI
Vahan.ai, an AI-powered recruitment platform for blue-collar workers, has announced a strategic investment from LemmaTree, a firm backed by Singapore’s Temasek. The deal is accompanied by Vahan’s acquisition of L.earn, a mobile-first upskilling platform formerly owned by GoodWorker, adding a vital skilling layer to its already robust employment ecosystem.
The investment marks a pivotal step in Vahan.ai’s mission to empower 1 billion people with access to meaningful employment. Currently facilitating 40,000 placements per month and having placed over 1 million workers across 920+ cities, the platform is targeting 1 lakh monthly placements, fueled by advanced AI and vernacular support.
Founded by Madhav Krishna, Vahan.ai has already partnered with giants like Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, and Zepto, using artificial intelligence to match job seekers with frontline roles in delivery, logistics, retail, and more. At the heart of its solution is a voice-based AI recruiter, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o, capable of conducting natural-language conversations in English and Hindi. This revolutionary system enables even first-time internet users to search and apply for jobs through a simple phone call.
With the acquisition of L.earn, Vahan.ai is now integrating modular upskilling directly into the recruitment journey. L.earn offers mobile-friendly, vernacular content to improve employability in logistics, manufacturing, and retail sectors. This move will help job seekers access better-paying roles and enable employers to meet growing demand for skilled labor, creating a win-win scenario for India’s fast-evolving workforce.
Blue-collar workers are expected to drive 70% of India’s job growth by 2030, according to recent labor studies. Yet, many remain disconnected from formal job channels due to digital illiteracy and limited access. Vahan’s platform, with plans to support eight additional Indian languages, seeks to close this gap by combining AI recruitment, voice interfaces, and contextual skilling pathways.
Commenting on the deal, Madhav Krishna, CEO of Vahan.ai, said: “We’re building not just a hiring engine, but a career ecosystem for Bharat. With LemmaTree’s support and L.earn’s integration, we can personalise job access, empower users through skilling, and take one giant step closer to our vision of meaningful employment for 1 billion people.”
Glenn Gore, CEO of LemmaTree, added: “Vahan.ai is redefining how businesses connect with frontline workers. Their AI-first, worker-centric model has the potential to scale globally and unlock economic opportunity at a massive scale.”
Vahan.ai’s next frontier includes expansion into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, Southeast Asia, and the MENA region, riding on the growth of India’s gig economy, which is projected to reach $455 billion by 2030. With its AI core, vernacular interface, and now skilling features, Vahan is poised to become the default infrastructure for hiring and upskilling India’s 450 million-strong informal workforce.
