Startups, e-commerce firms step up campus hiring at IITs

“We are engaging with colleges for campus hiring for roles such as supply chain analytics, and product and business development. We are also visiting business schools and engineering campuses across the country, including IIT Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, BHU (Varanasi), Roorkee, Hyderabad and Guwahati,” said a Flipkart spokesperson in response to queries.

Placement teams at IITs said Flipkart is offering data science and product manager jobs for ₹26-33 lakh.

About 78 startups have registered to recruit candidates from the batch of 2023, according to IIT Guwahati.

Spacetech startup Agnikul, electric vehicle maker Ather Energy, artificial intelligence platform Abacus AI, and fintech firm Razorpay have registered for phase-I of the placement season that began on Thursday, according to IIT Madras.

Food delivery company Zomato, fintech platforms Navi, Slice, Zupee and Groww, and social commerce platform Meesho have also reached out to IITs for hiring.

Tiger Global-backed fintech Jar is visiting IIT BHU for its first campus placement. Jar is offering ₹15-20 lakh salaries, along with relocation benefits.

“Freshers choosing to join a startup like ours, already have made the decision of choosing a path of growth led by ownership. So, mostly, we have healthy competition with fellow startups,” said Jar co-founder and chief executive officer Nishchay AG.

For some startups and e-commerce firms, recruiting from IITs is just the beginning of their expansion plans.

“We primarily look at IITians across roles, such as marketing manager and operation manager. As we continue to scale further we will look at hiring more talent from leading engineering colleges like IITs,” said Kumar Shekhar, deputy country manager, Tide India.

Locobuzz, a customer experience management platform, will also be going to IIT Mumbai to participate in campus placements this year for the first time. The startup will offer ₹18-20 LPA in average package to the new hires, including a performance bonus of 2 lakhs linked to the CTC. It will be hiring talent for its tech and services division for job roles like data scientist and service head. Profiles from across the engineering streams will be welcomed.

“We are in the growth phase and our priority is to get what is needed with the right talent. The talent pool of IITs is well-disciplined and groomed. They know the current technology trend and best practices in the industry. Also, they are great analytical thinkers, well connected, and act like a hive mind,” said Vishal Agarwal, cofounder and CEO, LocoBuzz.

IIT Bombay is also hosting Bengaluru-based Assiduus E-commerce Accelerator for campus placements, which raised over $15 million in October and is offering ₹1 lakh a month to freshers—more than double the salary it offered last time. It is looking for tech analysts and developers. “We are growing our business in the Middle East region and Europe. We are offering jobs in Dubai and London,” said Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO, Assiduus, adding that IITs offer the best talent and marquee names to associate with.

Some top recruiters are, however, expected to skip the placement season at IITs due to a funding crunch amid a looming global recession. In fact, the startup sector has laid off about 20,000 employees in the past year.

Edtech giant Byju’s may not be visiting IITs this time around as it is focusing on hiring for its sales team, a person in the know said seeking anonymity. Byju’s didn’t respond to queries.

Udaan, which hired IIT graduates last year, has frozen hiring, a person aware of the plans said. Udaan declined to comment.

Startups and e-commerce firms were often pitted against consulting firms on IIT campuses on the first day of placements, and had to jostle with large companies by offering joining bonuses. Management consulting firm Arthur D. Little has hired 15 freshers from IIT Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, and Kanpur, at annual salaries of ₹20 lakh, including bonuses.