Internet recruiter aims for base of millions

Liepin.com, China's leading Internet-based recruitment service provider, received C-round financing totaling $70 million from equity investment companies Warburg Pincus and Matrix Partners China, said Dai Kebin, Chief Executive Officer of Liepin.com. [Photo/dfic.cn]

Liepin.com, China's leading Internet-based recruitment service provider, plans to set up a global talent development center with a base of 20 million professionals by the end of 2014, its CEO told China Daily on Tuesday.

The company announced on the same day that it received C-round financing totaling $70 million from equity investment companies Warburg Pincus and Matrix Partners China, which amounts to the largest investment in the sector for the past five years.

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Liepin.com previously received A - and B-round financing totaling about $10 million from Matrix Partners China.

The new funding will be used to set up a global talent development center and promote the company's brand, Chief Executive Officer Dai Kebin told China Daily.

Dai said the company has already signed up 11 million professional staff, and the candidate base will reach 20 million by year-end.

Dai said Liepin.com has more than 100,000 enterprise clients, and each pays the company more than 10,000 yuan ($1,600) annually.

"Our profits mainly come from enterprise clients and employees," said Dai, adding that the fees for enterprise clients are very competitive compared with those charged by traditional recruiters.

A headhunter in China will charge an employer about 20 percent to 30 percent of an employee's annual income, but Liepin.com charges only for a package of services, said Dai.

"Liepin.com will promote the healthy development of the Chinese recruitment services market because we solve the problem of information asymmetry," said Dai.