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ICCP SBI Venture Partners leads US$4.2mm Series A of AI-powered hiring startup

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ICCP SBI Venture Partners (ISVP) led the US$4.2 million Series A round of 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 will support growth into new markets and the launch of trailblazing inclusive hiring innovations.

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 Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) Group of Companies; and is the oldest continuously-operating venture capital firm in the Philippines.

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.

“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 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,” explained X0PA Founder and CEO Nina Alag Suri.

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. ISVP’s seasoned venture capital team from the Philippines, Japan and Silicon Valley see the need to invest in these revolutionary technology companies,” shared ISVP Managing Director Miguel Encarnacion.

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

 

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ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Philippine Series B and leading a Series A in Singapore

[FI]-ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Series B in the Philippines and leading a Series A in Singapore

In 2021, ICCP SBI Venture Partners (ISVP) reaffirmed its commitment to invest into and support the fastest growing technology companies in Southeast Asia, in addition to its existing portfolio in the United States.

ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Series B in the Philippines and leading a Series A in Singapore

In February, ISVP started the year by participating in the Series B funding round of GrowSari, a tech-enabled business-to-business platform that helps Filipino neighborhood stores (sari-sari stores) with access to improved pricing, better service level, inclusive financing, and new products and services. GrowSari has raised over $30 million (around P1.53 billion) from global marquee investors and large venture capitalists including Singapore-based Temasek Holdings’ private equity unit Pavilion Capital, China’s technology company Tencent, Philippines-based Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and JG Digital Equity Ventures from the Gokongwei group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

In December, ISVP capped off the year by leading the Series A funding round of Xopa, a Singapore-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform powered by Artificial Intelligence that enhances recruitment and hiring processes through predictive analytics on big data. Xopa’s patented algorithms, machine learning and robotic process automation are at the core of an end-to-end suite of powerful products that enable sourcing, screening and interviewing of candidates at scale. The $4.2 million (around P214 million) funding round included participation from Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm SEEDS Capital, US-based AI8 Ventures, Taiwan’s XCEL NEXT Ventures and SASV Investments.

 

ISVP is a joint fund between two of the oldest operating venture capital firms in Asia: ICCP Venture Partners from the Philippines and SBI Holdings from Japan. After its 1998 debut fund achieved top quartile status globally, ICCP Venture Partners built a VC portfolio of over 50 direct and indirect investments. Now on its 6th fund, ICCP Venture Partners is further bolstered by the partnership with SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate, which operates one of Japan's largest VC practices. SBI has invested in more than 1,700 direct and indirect portfolio companies since 1999.


ISVP’s seasoned investment team from the Philippines, Japan and Silicon Valley invests in rapidly growing technology companies in the United States and the next generation of Southeast Asian market leaders. ISVP is headed by Managing Director Miguel Encarnacion, who has 9 years of experience in venture capital and private equity investing in the Philippines and Europe, where he was based in Germany for 4 years.

 

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