Arthum Raises ₹10 Crore Seed Round to Bring India’s Blue-Collar Workforce Into the Formal Economy

In a country where millions of workers keep factories running, buildings rising, and cities moving, a large part of the workforce still operates outside formal systems—without digital records, structured compliance, or easy access to banking. The post-Covid labour migration crisis made this reality impossible to ignore. It also became the starting point for Arthum, a Gurugram-based startup that is now taking a decisive step forward.

Arthum has raised ₹10 crore in seed funding, led by Caret^Capital, a $50 million thematic venture capital fund. The round also saw participation from Keynote Financial Services Limited and JS Global. The fresh capital will fuel Arthum’s mission to formalize India’s vast contract-based and blue-collar workforce through technology, data, and financial inclusion.

Arthum Funding

Founded in 2023 by Darpan Sharma and Vishal Mishra, Arthum was conceptualized during a time when India’s labour ecosystem was under severe stress. The pandemic exposed deep inefficiencies in how contract workers were managed—fragmented records, delayed payments, compliance gaps, and almost no financial access for workers themselves.

Arthum set out to solve this with a bold idea: build India’s first integrated operating system for contract workforce management.

Instead of disconnected tools and manual processes, Arthum brings anchors, labour contractors, and workers onto a single digital infrastructure. The platform acts as a unified system of record, integrating ERP-like capabilities such as geo-tagged attendance, payroll processing, digital payouts, contract management, and statutory compliance. This creates transparency across the value chain while reducing errors and disputes that have long plagued the sector.

Today, Arthum automates key operational workflows for over 3 lakh labour contractors, addressing one of the most complex and underserved layers of India’s employment ecosystem.

Turning Workforce Data Into Financial Access

What truly differentiates Arthum is what sits alongside its workforce management platform: an integrated Neo-banking layer.

By leveraging verified, real-time workforce data, Arthum enables access to formal financial products for India’s nearly 100 million blue-collar workers. Within the same ecosystem, workers can access banking services, insurance, credit, and even investment opportunities—services that were previously out of reach due to lack of documentation or credit history.

This formalized data layer transforms informal labour into digitally recognized and creditworthy participants in the financial system. For contractors and workers alike, it marks a shift from cash-based uncertainty to structured financial inclusion.

“Arthum is an operating system that connects every stakeholder in the contract labour ecosystem,” said Darpan Sharma, Co-founder and CEO of Arthum. “This investment will help us strengthen our technology stack, expand geographically, and unlock deeper financial inclusion through data-led credit and banking innovation.”

Rapid Adoption and Geographic Expansion

Since its launch, Arthum has already onboarded more than 1,500 labour contractors and over 6 lakh workers, primarily across the Delhi NCR region. With the fresh capital infusion, the company is now preparing for its next phase of growth.

Arthum is expanding its footprint to key industrial and labour hubs including Dehradun, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and other emerging clusters where contract labour forms the backbone of economic activity.

The goal is clear: scale rapidly while maintaining data accuracy, compliance standards, and trust across stakeholders.

Investor Confidence in a Structural Opportunity

For Caret^Capital, the investment aligns closely with its long-term vision of job creation and economic formalization.

“By investing in Arthum, we aim to accelerate the formalization of India’s 120 million-plus blue-collar workers and bring over 300,000 labour contractors into the formal economy,” said Pankaj Bansal. He noted that Arthum’s integrated approach—combining workflow automation with financial enablement—has the potential to fundamentally change how contractors and workers engage with enterprises and financial institutions.

This vision also aligns with Caret Capital’s broader objective of supporting 10 million jobs, using technology as a catalyst for systemic change.

Strong Banking and NBFC Partnerships

To power its financial inclusion stack, Arthum has built partnerships with some of India’s leading banks, including Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, and IDFC First Bank.

In addition, the startup has collaborated with 15+ NBFCs, such as UGRO Capital, Bajaj Finserv, Aditya Birla Capital, Godrej Capital, BlackSoil, and Protium. Together, these partnerships enable the co-creation of affordable, tailored financial products for blue-collar workers and contractors.

A Full-Stack, First-Mover Advantage

Unlike traditional, non-tech, and fragmented players in the labour management space, Arthum’s full-stack and first-mover approach gives it a clear edge. By integrating workforce management, compliance, and financial services into a single platform, the company eliminates information silos and builds trusted digital identities for millions of workers.

The result is fewer payment errors, better compliance, scalable operations, and—most importantly—dignity and financial security for a workforce that has long remained invisible in formal systems.

With fresh capital in hand and a rapidly expanding footprint, Arthum is positioning itself not just as a startup, but as critical digital infrastructure for India’s next phase of inclusive growth—where the blue-collar workforce finally gets the systems, recognition, and access it deserves.