Goldman Sachs buys majority stake in HR firm PeopleStrong

Goldman Sachs Alternatives, the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, has acquired a majority stake in PeopleStrong, a leading human capital management SaaS provider, the company said on Tuesday.

According to sources, the deal has valued the Gurugram based company at Rs1200 crore. The financial details of the deal are not yet disclosed.

Renuka Ramnath-led Multiples Alternate Asset Management holds an 84% stake in PeopleStrong, while founders own 2%. The remaining stake is held by angel investors and in a pool of shares for offering stock options to employees. The company was valued at Rs530 crore in its last funding round in 2021, according to Tracxn data.


ET first reported in October last year about Multiples’ plans to sell human resources platform PeopleStrong.

In 2017, Multiples acquired the stake in PeopleStrong from various funds including PE firm Lumis Partners, HDFC Holdings and The HR Fund, for Rs518 crore.

PeopleStrong offers a comprehensive, AI-powered HCM platform with capabilities across applicant tracking systems (ATS), payroll, employee experience and talent management, the company said.

PeopleStrong’s clientele includes Aditya Birla Group, L&T, Cholamandalam, TATA, Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Ergo, Paytm, RBL Bank, HDFC Life, OLA, Air India, Cipla, Schneider, Amara Raja, Indigo, and V-Mart.

Currently, the company serves over two million individual users and aims to significantly expand its scale and geographic footprint, targeting 10 million users globally over the next five years, it said.

“We have remained focused on balanced, sustainable growth and are proud to stand out today as one of the few EBITDA-positive SaaS companies with a leading market position,” said Sandeep Chaudhary, CEO of PeopleStrong.

“PeopleStrong stands at the intersection of talent and technology—delivering real, measurable value to its customers at scale through its technology-led human capital management solutions," said Rajat Sood, a Managing Director in Growth and Corporate Equity Investing at Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs is an active investor in India, deploying more than $8.5 billion in alternative capital since 2006.