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Keenly aware of the many problems associated with hiring, especially those related to documentation and poilcymaking, technocrat and serial entrepreneur Waqar Azmi founded StartupHR Toolkit in 2019.

The Mumbai-based startup aims to ease all hassles associated with the hiring process and bolster the documentation process by offering a compiled list of more than 2,000 legally compliant and up-to-date documents in-hand. 

Waqar Azmi, Founder and CEO, Sutra Services Pvt Ltd, the parent company behind StartupHR Toolkit and recruiting and placement startup SutraHR, says:

“StartupHR Toolkit is not only cost-effective; it’s a process that accentuates hiring. Today, more than 25,000+ organisations in India and abroad, including a mixed bag of HR professionals, entrepreneurs, startup founders, management (CEO, Co-founders, CXOs), are using StartupHR Toolkit.”

Companies such as Khatabook, WazirX, Haptik, Mamaearth, Victorinox , Open Bank, and others use the product for HR documentation. The HRtech startup claims to have been instrumental in helping HR professionals save over two lakh man hours and more than $1 million in HR costs. 

StartupHR Toolkit, which aims to “make HR documentation an easy and quick process”, believes that talent acquisition can be done remotely even if all stakeholders – recruiters, candidates, interviewers, and hiring managers – are situated in different geographical locations. 

Waqar realised that the process for HR documentation and policy making was an obsolete and heavy process. It began with searching for professionals via their networks or search engines. This prolonged problem has not been resolved for years, which is why Waqar decided to start up in the field. 

“We started working on the idea in 2019, did a soft launch in November 2019, and launched full-fledged around February 2020,” he says.

What it does

StartupHR Toolkit offers ready-to-use HR templates for different stages of the HR process so companies and hiring managers can manage HR processes independently. The toolkit has been structured and designed by Sutra Services Pvt. Ltd., based on their experience of managing the HR operations for startups and established companies. The templates can be customised, depending on needs and preferences. 

The startup ensures that all documents are proof-read by experienced lawyers and HR professionals, and uploaded in the editable format. “All documents are legally compliant and up-to-date. They are in Word and Excel format, and can be easily edited by anyone,” Waqar says.

Unlike other HRtech startups, which use SaaS, this handy tool doesn’t require any training and “can be used by anyone”. 

StartupHR Toolkit claims to be “bootstrapped and profitable from Day 1”. 

“We invested Rs 10 lakh initially and keep investing 80 percent of our revenue to make it a global brand,” Waqar says.

The product pricing starts at Rs 3,499 per year and goes up to Rs 11,999 for Gold, a premium offering that offers the user lifetime access to the collection of HR documents, including human resource manuals, letters, templates, employee policies, and job descriptions. 

“With our Gold offering, you don’t need to pay a penny for updates or renewal. You get lifetime free access to any new document we add to the HR Toolkit,” Waqar says. “It also  includes three free customised HR policies along with a dedicated account manager.”

The startup generated a revenue of Rs 1.8 crore in FY21, Rs 2.5 crore in FY22, and is projecting Rs 4.5 crore revenue for FY23.

“We are growing at 80 percent year on year,” Waqar says.

Waqar also runs SutraHR, a recruiting and placement startup, which claims to have recruited 5,000+ professionals over the past decade.

The present and future

The founder says that the market size is “$1 billion”. 

“We have the first-mover advantage and have very little or no direct competition, but people ‘Google’ HR documents and use them. However, none of them are legally approved or protect you completely,” he says.  

As per Grand View Research, the global human resource management market size was valued at $17.56 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.2 percent from 2021 to 2028.

StartupHR Toolkit, which is a 10-member team at present, claims to have acquired 25,000+ paid customers across the globe in the 2.5 years since it was launched. 

“We sell one HR toolkit every 45 minutes, and plan to push this to one every 10 minutes. More than one million documents have been created using our Toolkit,” says Waqar, adding that the company is able to launch the product in any new country in 21 days. “We can easily tap 200 million businesses globally across different regions.”

Last year, the startup launched in the international market, targeting the UAE, Gulf countries, Nigeria, and Kenya. 

StartupHR Toolkit foresees a 75 percent market share in these emerging markets, and plans to reach one million customers in the next three to five years. It expects 50 percent would be from India and the rest from emerging markets.

“We also plan to expand in emerging markets like Bangladesh, South Africa, Ethiopia, Indonesia etc,” Waqar says. 

The startup has also completed a soft launch for its business toolkit product, Smart Business Box, which would complement the HR product and will focus on business and legal documents. 

“Our vision is to be the go-to destination for any HR documents and, in the process, help employers build a strong relationship with their employees,” Waqar says.