Pune-based sales recruitment startup Scooter has raised Rs 1.5 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Aviral Bhatnagar’s AJVC.
The fresh capital will be invested in product development and efforts to make the sales hiring process more efficient for both candidates and hiring managers.
Founded in 2024 by Kartik Mandrekar and Saumya Seth, Scooter is designed to help startups identify sales talent based on practical selling ability rather than placing primary emphasis on conventional CVs. Candidates are evaluated through simulations of real-world sales situations to give employers a better understanding of their capabilities.
Mandrekar has previously headed sales teams at Gartner, Shoptimize and Graas. Seth, meanwhile, is a behavioural scientist who holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Scooter’s platform begins by identifying and sourcing verified sales professionals. Candidates are then evaluated through real sales scenarios, after which hiring managers receive a curated shortlist of three to five potential hires. Instead of going directly to a candidate’s CV, managers can first watch short video clips from the assessment process.
The startup said one of its customers completed a sales hire through the platform within six days.
Scooter currently works with more than 50 companies and has brought on 14 customers in recent months. Its candidate network has also grown to more than 10,000 sales professionals.
The funding marks AJVC’s first investment in a Pune-based startup. Led by Aviral Bhatnagar, the firm operates as a pre-seed fund.
Scooter is focused on addressing the time-consuming nature of sales recruitment by helping startups and sales organisations identify and assess suitable candidates more efficiently.
