Hiring alert: TPG-backed Altimetrik to triple India IT team, targets $1 bn revenue

“From an engineering talent perspective, we are open to go where the engineering capability is and India’s got the greatest pool of engineers,” Raj Sundaresan, chief executive officer of Altimetrik, told Mint. “It will be remiss if we don’t take advantage of the talent pool here.”

This comes at a time when tech hiring in India is slowing. Many IT firms and startups are downsizing or tightening their purse strings, offering low compensation and hikes.

“We’re talking 3x from a revenue perspective in the next three years, that will be very proportionate, if not larger, to our employee growth,” he added. 

India currently has approximately 5,000 engineers working at Altimetrik, accounting for nearly 80% of the company’s global tech workforce of about 6,200 employees.

Sundaresan also said that the company will continue growing its teams “proportionately” in other engineering centres in the US, Canada, Uruguay, Mexico, Poland, and Portugal, among others. “…a majority (of new talent) will come out of India centres because anything to do with digital business modernisation and AI, the talent is prime here. And we’re doubling down and investing to ensure that we grow our talent,” he added.

The update on Altimetrik’s hiring plans follows the acquisition of a majority stake of about 60% in the company by TPG Capital, a US-based private equity firm, valuing it at about $1.5 billion.

Pushing the growth pedal

TPG’s investment, through its Asian private equity platform, will accelerate Altimetrik’s efforts towards clocking $1 billion in revenue in the next three years, Sundaresan said. Altimetrik last reported $111 million in operating revenue in financial year 2022.

As the firm charts its roadmap to the milestone, it plans to continue growing further in the US, the country with its highest client base, along with adopting new plans to expand in other geographies. And in addition to expanding its tech team, Altimetrik has more on the cards for India.

Founded in 2012 by Indian-American entrepreneur Raj Vattikuti, Altimetrik is a pure-play digital enablement company that provides business solutions to companies and helps them transform into a digital business. Sundaresan, the current chief, joined the company, five years later, in 2017.

The TPG-backed firm partners with clients mainly in financial services, pharmaceuticals and auto manufacturing. It now plans to target companies in the insurance sector.

“We already have three or four clients in that vertical, but we’re going to double down in that area because it’s prime for digital business enablement. Modernization is also crucial since the majority of insurance clients are on legacy platforms, which hinder their ability to innovate quickly,” said Sundaresan.

Altimetrik, which has a presence in 14 countries, anticipates a shift in its revenue mix from the US versus other regions from the current 75-25 to 60-40 over the next three years. This change is expected as the company intensifies its growth efforts in the UK, Europe and APAC regions.

More on the cards 

For India, Altimetrik also plans to target the growing number of global capability centers or GCCs as a major client segment, along with its core focus areas in finance, pharma and auto manufacturing.

“We’ve identified a great opportunity within India with the GCCs. Many GCCs in India are doing significant work for clients headquartered elsewhere. We aim to target these centres by starting with support for the GCCs here, then establishing and building relationships with their headquarters,” Sundaresan, who was on an India visit earlier this month, added. According to reports, the country currently hosts over 1,580 GCCs and a talent base of over 1.66 million.

In addition, the company plans to pursue inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions in growth verticals and geographies, including India. In fact, Sundaresan’s India visit earlier this month was to explore potential M&As in the country, among other reasons, according to the company.

Sundaresan said that Altimetrik is “…open to, and not opposed to (M&As in India). In today’s world, it would be remiss for any company not to have an India presence.”