VC leads $4.2M funding AI startup

ICCP SBI Venture Partners (ISVP), a joint fund between two of the oldest operating and leading venture capital (VC) firms in Asia, successfully raised the “Series A” funding round of $4.2 million for Singapore-based X0PA AI, a leader in AI-powered hiring solutions.

Other investors in the round were Seeds Capital, a funding agency of the Singapore Government’s Enterprise Singapore; US-based AI8 Ventures; XCEL NEXT Ventures of Taiwan; and SASV Investments of India. The new funding would support growth into new markets and the launch of trailblazing inclusive hiring innovations.

“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,” said Nina Alag Suri X0PA founder and chief executive. “We 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.

ISVP is a joint fund between ICCP Venture Partners from the Philippines and SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate which operates one of Japan’s largest VC practices.

ICCP Venture Partners is a member of the Investment & Capital Corp. of the Philippines (ICCP) Group of Companies, a diversified conglomerate engaged in investment banking, venture capital, industrial estate and township development, and exposition facility complex management.

X0PA’s web-based platform is designed to maximize objectivity in talent selection and leverage automation to empower candidates and employers to get desirable hiring.

Already working with tech leaders like SAP, Oracle, Intel, Nvidia and Microsoft, the startup company plans to use the capital for global expansion in Asian, US, Latin American and European markets.

The advancement in computing technology and analytics has also paved the way for organizations worldwide to partner with innovative platforms and talent recruitment solutions.

“We are now at an inflection point in history where technology is advanced enough to understand humans and optimize recruitment in ways we never could,” said Miguel Encarnacion, ISVP managing director. “ISVP’s seasoned venture capital team from the Philippines, Japan and Silicon Valley see the need to invest in these revolutionary technology companies.”

He particularly mentioned sectors like FinTech, LogisticsTech, PropTech and Future of Work technologies in key geographic locations such as the US, Canada, Europe, the UK and Southeast Asia.