A subsidiary of Japanese recruitment firm Persol, Persol Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. has backed up HR technology startup Freecacy. However, the financial details of the investment remains unknown. Freecacy operates ‘freeC’, a platform that supports AI research in Southeast Asia and looks to develop services throughout the region, in areas where the company says fluid and flexible working styles have advanced from Japan.

President and CEO of Freecacy Kazumoto Kunimoto said, “The purpose of this financing was to find a partner that can generate business synergies not only in financing but also in the development of Southeast Asia in the years ahead. Persol Asia Pacific is making the most aggressive overseas investments among Japanese HR companies, and has a sense of speed comparable to startups.”

The global artificial intelligence (AI) recruitment market is growing exponentially with the increasing usage of predictive analytics as a part of the recruitment process. Integration of predictive analysis with AI technology is expected to further drive the AI recruitment market. The AI recruitment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.6 percent by 2027, owing to the rise in number of companies automating their recruiting process using new AI solutions. The pandemic and subsequent disruption in the world of work could further accelerate the growth of the AI recruitment market, as more and more organizations explore these solutions. 

Compared to the main AI global hubs - the US and China - ASEAN states may have been lagging behind in overall AI adoption but when it comes to AI-based recruitment solutions, they have begun experimenting. In fact, as per CEIPAL’s global survey, Southeast Asia leads the pack in AI adoption for recruitment. 

Takayuki Yamazaki, Chairman at PersolKelly and Head of APAC business at Persol Holdings, said, “The HR market in the Asia Pacific region is undergoing rapid changes daily, centered on the evolution of technology. In order to become a market leader in such an environment, we realize that in addition to expanding the provision of conventional services and business models, we must cause disruption ourselves and change the way we have done so far.”

Yamazaki added that he believes that together with Freecacy, Persol  can also make a difference in the HR market in the region. As per his comments, Freecracy has been making a leap forward in Vietnam and its solution has the potential to redefine the way recruitment is done by companies in the region. 

But now as more companies resort to virtual hiring tools, the competition in the HR tech market will also increase. To be able to stand out in the market Freecracy now needs to ensure that it identifies the organization’s recruitment needs for the new normal of work and focuses on value creation and problem solving for the next few months.