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Bengaluru-based skilling startup Masai School has launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered hiring platform to connect tech talent with job opportunities.

Dubbed LevelUp, the platform focuses on skill-based assessments, combining AI-enhanced expert evaluations and a competency mapping algorithm offering solutions for employers and job seekers.

“Employers now seek individuals with future-ready skill sets, encompassing in-demand proficiencies such as advanced technological tools, big data analytics, and change management,” Prateek Shukla, Co-founder and CEO of Masai School, said.

Founded in 2019, Masai offers skilling courses in full-stack web development, backend development, data analytics, mobile development, and software testing and automation.

Over the past 4.5 years, the startup has been part of the skilling journey of over 9,000 learners. Also, it developed a skill assessment algorithm that evaluates an individual’s competencies and effectively matches them with the most fitting organisations, Shukla told YourStory.

LevelUp matches candidates with companies by assessing hiring criteria and using data-driven insights to align them with company requirements, such as location, talent availability, and salary. Shukla highlighted that tech hiring is a protracted process, but the platform helps by utilising AI and public data to predict company hiring needs, reducing interview and hiring time.

It expects to reduce this time by 50% based on a pilot test, where the company placed about 175 students within three months using this platform, which has over 20,000 job seekers, as per the Masai chief.

“We thought this platform can not only solve the problem for my students but also has the potential to solve the broader challenges within the tech hiring landscape,” Shukla added.

Leveraging AI

LevelUp has over 300 industry professionals who go through a comprehensive 90-minute skill assessment to create a detailed competency map for any individual seeking a job on the platform. Besides the professionals, the company has deployed a generative AI (Gen AI) layer in the background.

“The majority of the work happening in the background is AI-driven. The only time humans are involved is during the 90-minute live interview, which is also reviewed by AI,” Shukla said.

He added that anywhere between 60% to 90% of the process is driven by AI, depending on an individual’s performance in the interview and their level of engagement.

Masai utilises about 6-10 large language models (LLMs), such as Meta’s Llama 2 and OpenAI’s Whisper API, to meet various requirements. It is also developing its own LLM using the data it gathers.

Regarding investment in the AI-powered tech hiring platform, Shukla said it was initially designed for internal use, involving the tech team, product developers, and design professionals, so the “cost structure is pretty lean”.

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Masai provides two choices to job seekers. First, a free plan for self-guided applications based on their skill assessment. Second, a paid job assurance programme at Rs 10,000, where Masai helps secure a job within 60 days at a predicted salary. If unsuccessful, it provides a refund.

The startup is currently placing around 150 non-Masai students, who have joined its job assurance programme, Shukla said, adding that it plans about 1,000 placements per month in five months via the platform. More than 100 companies hire through LevelUp, including Nobroker, ShareChat, Boeing, and Amazon.

Companies offering an annual CTC between Rs 10-20 lakh pay a flat fee of Rs 75,000 per successful hire, while those who offer CTCs between Rs 20-30 lakh pay Rs 1.25 lakh. The maximum subscription fee for senior-level positions with 10 years of experience is Rs 2 lakh, the Masai CEO noted.

LevelUp is expected to achieve a monthly revenue run rate of about Rs 20-25 lakh within the next three months, and according to Shukla, it could reach the Rs 1 crore mark in the following six to nine months.

In FY23-24, Masai targets revenue between Rs 120-150 crore, up from about Rs 40 crore in FY22-23, with plans to double its revenue growth in FY25, Shukla said.

The startup’s main income source is its skilling programmes, with fees based on job placement—Rs 2.5 lakh for CTCs between Rs 3.5-5 lakh, Rs 3.5 lakh for Rs 5-10 lakh, and Rs 4.5 lakh for salaries exceeding Rs 10 lakh payable over 36 months.

In FY23, the company helped about 1,600 secure placements and 2,000 complete their curriculum, Shukla said. It aims to place around 4,000 candidates in FY24, with about 5,500 graduating. In FY25, roughly 12,000 students will complete their curriculum, and around 10,800 are expected to secure placements, he added.

Last November, Masai secured $10 million in a Series B round led by Omidyar Network India, with participation from existing investors India Quotient and Unitus Ventures. This brought its total funding to $23.7 million, and its post-money valuation stood at $52.5 million as of September 2022, according to Tracxn.