LinkedIn eyes India expansion, introduces three new products
The social networking site LinkedIn announced that it would be launching three new services in India to help expand its access to the market. India is pitched to be the company's second largest market. The three products would be LinkedIn Placements, LinkedIn Starter Pack and LinkedIn Lite. The company had made a pilot launch for its placements product in November 2015.
LinkedIn is an American social networking platform for business professionals, founded 13 years ago. The business networking site generated revenue predominantly from selling its user information to recruiting professionals. The NYSE-listed LinkedIn has stated that it has over 433 million user accounts, with almost 106 million accounts active. The company saw its revenues climb to $3 billion this year.
Boosting economic opportunities in India
"We are committed to India and to boosting our ability to deliver value to even more members and be a part of their professional growth journey, by investing and innovating locally," LinkedIn India head Akshay Kothari said.
What are the products?
LinkedIn Placements will target college and university students to connect them with prospective companies, by means of assessment tests. The assessment tests would chart the students to top 35 companies across both local and international regions. The LinkedIn Starter Pack would pitch students through to start-ups and small and medium enterprises. LinkedIn Lite is a mobile site, enabling faster access for slower connectivity.
LinkedIn looks toward digital inclusion
"If you look at it, the announcements today are all aligned with the government initiatives. Placements is aligned with Skill India, the startup package is well aligned with Startup India. We follow the Indian market very closely," LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said on the launch.
India's LinkedIn user base
For the social networking giant, which was recently acquired by Microsoft, India is currently its second largest market globally. Although, studies and reports have placed the country at 114th position for its connectivity and average internet speed across the globe. With LinkedIn recently opening its largest office in Asia in the city of Bengaluru, it has a massive user base of 37 million users.
