Mumbai-based start-up Talent Litmus, a platform for game-based assessments and learning, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) and Haptik co-founder Aakrit Vaish via Let’s Venture.

Talent Litmus was founded in 2016 by Satpreet Arora and Kiran Wadhwa. Arora is an IIT and IIM alumnus who gained experience in engineering scalable systems at Yahoo! and Wadhwa is a creative professional with experience in digital engagementand journalism.

The company has created proprietary algorithms grounded in psychology and data sciences to power its game-based HR applications. This, combined with highly-engaging game mechanics, enables them to create powerful tools for organizations to engage with existing and prospective employees.

“We are excited to bring together the diverse fields of game design, psychology and data analytics to re-imagine talent management. This triad ensures the scope of innovation is limitless,” said Arora, “To be guided by the committed network at IPV and our other investors gives us confidence to surge ahead.”

Talent Litmus already counts some of the country’s largest brands as their partners. Their flagship product, Nautics, was awarded the best behavioural assessment at the World HRD Congress 2019.

Sharing his insights, Sadique, an IPV member, said, “The acceptance of Talent Litmus across industries proves its market potential for solving a significant challenge for organisations.” On the experience with IPV, he said, “IPV is very process-driven. The timeline from pitch to closure is well-defined. The comprehensive reports IPV puts together on startups helps investors make informed decisions.”

Over the next 2 years, Talent Litmus is looking to work with 200+ clients across India, Europe and the US. The start-up will utilize its funds to invest in R&D, expand product portfolio and geographies served.

For Aakrit, the investment decision was straightforward. “We started using Talent Litmus at Haptik and I was blown away by the results and its impact on candidates. I was convinced they have a highly differentiated product backed with credible R&D. The company’s traction signals a strong product-market fit, and I believe in the founding team’s capabilities.

The “Assessments and Corporate Learning”industry is poised for change with organizations eager to replace traditional methods with innovative solutions to engage with their tech-savvy workforce.

Jignesh Kenia, another IPV member, said, “Our teams played Nautics and were happy the assessment results inferred from the gameplay.” This increased our confidence to invest in the business.