Chinese HR Service Provider Moka Completes US$100 Million in Series C Financing

Moka, a leading Chinese provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) human resources services, announced the completion of a US$100 million Series C financing. The round was led by Tiger Global Management, LLC. Existing shareholders, including Blue Lake Capital, GL Ventures, GSR Ventures and GGV Capital, also participated, with Taihecap acting as the sole financial advisor.

After completion of the financing, Moka plans to continue expanding into the HR sector by furthering the development of comprehensive SaaS-based HR solutions and continuing its commitment to product innovation and enhancement while stepping up efforts in recruiting and training talented professionals.

“We are seeing a subtle change in the relationship between employers and their employees as an increasing number of employees are working to realize their own value while focusing more on the work experience as well as on how to derive a sense of achievement from their work. In the HR software sector, a field that is seen as being closest to ‘people’, traditional HR software products that were exclusively designed for decision makers to manage employees are not what companies really need,” said Moka CEO and co-founder Li Guoxing.

“As a result, we decided to design products not only for HR professionals or decision makers, but also for other roles across the organization, including employees, interviewers, candidates and executives, by shifting our focus to each individual involved in the process. We plan to create the next generation of complete SaaS-based HR solutions for all employees across the organization by using our innovative technologies and expertise to deliver a better work experience to each employee and allow them achieve more as a member of the organization. This is also our mission at Moka,” Li added.

At the same time, in order to recruit quality talent and deepen efforts in research and development of new technologies and offerings, Moka have established a second headquarters in the Tianfu New Area, Sichuan province. Moka has also entered into a strategic collaboration with the area’s government agencies to build product, service and marketing facilities there, with the goal of promoting the development of the SaaS-based HR sector by facilitating industrial transformation through our professional services,” added Mr. Li, the CEO. “Moka looks forward to working in concert with more industry partners to develop the next-generation of complete SaaS-based HR solutions that are smarter and easier to use, with the aim of empowering recruitment strategies among employers and helping improve the overall social efficiency.”

The Chinese market for SaaS-based HR services has experienced rapid growth over the past few years, and foresees a bright future by leveraging the growing number of opportunities brought about by the changes in industry policies, market conditions and the management model adopted by key industry players. In particular, the awareness of the importance of using information systems has been raised among Chinese firms while their ability to pay for it has also been strengthened.

Over the past six years, the average purchase price of products has increased fivefold, a testament to their willingness to pay for premium solutions; at the same time, rather than choose on-premise products, organizations are increasingly looking for more agile SaaS-based solutions that can deliver a better user experience. This has opened up new opportunities for the SaaS-based HR services market.

As the lead investor of the previous round, Ray Hu, the founder and managing partner of Blue Lake Capital, said he was pleased to make a large percentage of additional investment in this round. We are very proud that Moka has grown to be one of the top HR SaaS brands in China after our investment. This validates our initial view that the next generation of enterprise management software will be a comprehensive product-focused competition, and that Moka has been designed and developed with customer satisfaction in mind from the very beginning. The best practices of talent acquisition management exported by Moka are spreading from the Internet industry to other industries, and are driving a new paradigm of “people-centric” management in Chinese enterprises.

Currently, Moka, one of the fastest-growing Chinese suppliers of SaaS-based HR solutions, provides customers with the Moka Intelligent Applicant Tracking System and Moka People (Human Capital Management System):

• The Moka Intelligent Applicant Tracking System, launched at the end of 2016, provides organizations with more efficient and accurate recruitment management services in tandem with an improved user experience. The system enables unified management of the recruitment process as well as the establishment of and access to a talent pool while ensuring the supply of complete data. In addition, the product has become the industry’s first recruitment solution to be designed for multiple scenarios, including recruitments that take place both before and after the prospective hiree has graduated, by way of introductions through social networks and in-company recommendations, as well as to fill the manpower need in retail chain stores, helping employers find just the right employee at the right time.
• Moka People was launched at the end of 2020 based on three identified needs: creating the ultimate user experience, building a close connection among recruitment staff and looking at expectations of what the product should deliver from the perspective of top management. The solution has been widely applied in several of the most common business scenarios across multiple organizations, including personnel, time off, salary and performance management as well as analysis of staff data. With wide application across business scenarios, the solution provides management with data insights and science-based assistance. Most notably, a synergistic connection has been built between Moka Intelligent Applicant Tracking System and Moka People, creating a complete SaaS-based HR solution that has been delivered to nearly 100 corporate customers.

Thanks to its cutting-edge innovation alongside an ultimate product and service experience, Moka has led the industry in terms of Net Promoter Score (NPS) while maintaining a customer renewal rate that far exceeds the industry average. Built on these advantages, Moka has become the largest provider of recruitment management systems in China in terms of market share, with a growth rate surpassing 100 per cent. 

To date, Moka has expanded its business into over 25 sectors, among them, online, chain retail, biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing, finance and real estate, providing over 1,500 corporate customers with paid subscription services. The firm’s most well-known customers include Tencent, Xiaomi, Qihoo 360, McDonald’s, ANTA Group, Genki Forest, Intco Medical Technology, Dian Diagnostics Group, Contemporary Amperex Technology, Arm China, Panasonic, China Pacific Insurance and Vanke.