X0PA AI, a Singapore-based hiring solutions platform, announced $4.2 million in Series A funding led by ICCP SBI Venture Partners (ISVP).

SEEDS Capital, AI8 Ventures, XCEL NEXT VENTURES, and SASV Investments also participated in the round, XOPA AI said in a statement.

The new funding comes on the back of significant growth into new markets and the launch of trailblazing inclusive hiring innovations.

X0PA AI plans to use the capital for global expansion beginning with Asian, United States (US), Latin American, and European markets.

This will include investments in the company’s go-to- market strategy and teams. Additionally, the newly secured funding will help support product enhancements and innovation to continue to outpace competition in the maturity of artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Singapore headquartered, with offices across the United Kingdom, India and the United Arab Emirates, X0PA AI is a software as a service (SaaS) company that helps in talent acquisition, hiring, assessment and areas that use AI and Machine Learning (ML). Recognized by IDC as AI-Automation innovator Asia Pacific (APAC), X0PA AI is a partner of SAP, Oracle, Intel and Nvidia, and a strategic Microsoft partner.

According to XOPA AI, organizations are looking to increase diversity in their workplaces and reduce bias, while lowering the time and cost to hire the best talent, and X0PA AI’s intelligent hiring solutions are designed to maximize objectivity in talent selection and leverage automation to empower candidates and employers to get the most equitable and desirable hiring outcomes.

“Recruitment and selections can have significant bias, inequity and inefficiencies. We are looking to change the game in equitable hiring and selections by reducing unconscious bias and subjectivity leading to more diverse workplaces and better selection outcomes,

“We also want to continue to capitalize on our sophisticated algorithms and intelligent automation to make the entire process efficient hence saving considerable costs and time while ensuring the ideal match between the employers and candidates,” said Nina Alag Suri, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of X0PA AI.

According to the statement, X0PA AI offers a range of ethical AI-powered products, developed on Microsoft Azure, that look to reduce manual recruitment and selection processes, increase inclusion, and solve people sourcing problems for enterprises, academia and government. Market-leading patented algorithms, ML and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are at the centre of powerful products that enable sourcing, screening, and interviewing of candidates at scale.

The new round of funding is led by ISVP, a joint fund between two of the oldest operating venture capital (VC) firms in Asia. ISVP’s seasoned partners and advisors from the Philippines, Japan and Silicon Valley invest in rapid-growth technology companies from Asia and the US. ISVP’s Managing Director, Miguel Encarnacion, has been focusing on the Future of Work, with X0PA AI being his 6th investment in the vertical over the last 3 years.

“Advancement of technology and computing power has paved the way for the use of big data and machine learning as a means of minimizing cognitive biases in hiring. In the process, a lot of previously undiscovered, or underestimated, talent pools can now be accessed.

“X0PA AI is solving the talent bottleneck by utilizing AI to find highly talented outliers that do not necessarily fit regular profiles. More importantly, they are leading the way in building a more equitable future of work. We are proud to help them continue building on a powerful, cost-saving platform that optimizes recruitment operations while having an important social impact.” said Miguel.

In its home base in Singapore, X0PA AI also secured funding from SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore. SEEDS Capital catalyses smart investments into innovative tech start-ups in emerging and strategic sectors with strong intellectual content and market potential.

“Equitable and inclusive hiring practices are emerging priorities for organizations worldwide as they look to increase diversity in teams. Through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, X0PA AI’s solutions enable an objective and seamless hiring process, which has the potential to transform and uplift HR practices. We look forward to partnering this innovative business and enable expansion of its solutions overseas,” said Tan Kaixin, General Manager of SEEDS Capital.

A18 Ventures Co-Founder and General Partner Dion DeLoof is also keenly aware of X0PA’s competitive edge.

“We are excited to invest in X0PA AI to disrupt traditional talent recruitment processes. Their AI and ML leveraged approach to candidate selection is a real competitive advantage. End clients are looking for solutions that remove unconscious hiring bias, increase speed to hire, and identify new pools of talent. We look forward to partnering with Nina and her team,” said Dion.

Meanwhile, further growth in Asia remains a focal point for X0PA AI which Kevin Yu, Founding Partner at XCEL NEXT VENTURES wants to accelerate.

“Higher attrition, remote working and a candidate- led recruitment market is currently putting more pressure on employers across the world to hire faster, while also lowering costs in how they reach and onboard talent.

“X0PA AI’s advanced AI-powered hiring tools are solving these problems and positioning them to be a future leader in inclusive hiring software. XCEL NEXT backs founders who transform industries, and team X0PA is one of them. We look forward to helping the company achieve sustained growth in Asia,” he said.

Client results have also been another critical factor in this investment round.

“I’ve been following X0PA AI’s journey from early days and it’s impressive to see how far they’ve come. X0PA AI’s clients recorded a 600 percent increase in return on investment (ROI), 80 percent savings in time and 50 percent in cost to hire” said Sajit Nair, Managing Director and Founding Partner of SASV investments.

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