Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has made a follow-on investment in HRtech startDarwinbox.
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The transaction was carried out entirely through a secondary share sale. Financial terms were not disclosed, while the identity of the selling shareholder was also not revealed.
It marks TVG’s second investment in Darwinbox after a $40 million investment in August 2025.
The earlier transaction included both primary and secondary capital and was intended to support Darwinbox’s international expansion, particularly in North America, alongside further investment in AI.
Founded in 2015 by Jayant Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi and Rohit Chennamaneni, Darwinbox provides cloud-based human capital management software covering areas including recruitment, onboarding, payroll, performance management and employee engagement.
Vineet Singh, who joined the team in 2015, was elevated to co-founder in 2024 after serving as the company’s chief technology officer.
Darwinbox’s platform is used by more than 1,400 organisations and 4.5 million employees worldwide.
The company has increased its focus on AI as part of its product development and global expansion. In August 2026, it launched Darwinbox Cortex, an AI-native HCM platform designed to embed AI into the core of its HR software.
Cortex launched with a group of design partners including automotive technology company Visteon and healthtech company Transcarent.
Microsoft is a strategic AI ecosystem partner for the platform, which also integrates with workplace applications including Slack and Glean.
Darwinbox co-CEO Jayant Paleti described the shift towards AI-native enterprise software as a “generational shift”.
“With Cortex, we moved early and are leading that shift in HCM, with several industry-first innovations including the first Context Graph in the category. Our focus now is to work closely with our customers, drive real adoption and value, and scale AI usage across the enterprise,” Paleti said.
Darwinbox became a unicorn in January 2022 after raising $72 million in a funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures, taking its valuation above $1 billion.
Its investors also include KKR, Partners Group, Microsoft, Salesforce Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed.
TVG invests in late-stage technology companies and has backed several businesses in India. Its investments in the country include logistics company Xpressbees, financial technology companies Perfios and Mintifi, and AI infrastructure company Neysa.
