Academics’ Enterprise Progress (TVG), the late-stage investment arm of Ontario Academics’ Pension Plan, has made a follow-on funding in HRtech startDarwinbox.

The transaction was carried out fully via a secondary share sale. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed, whereas the identification of the promoting shareholder was additionally not revealed.

It marks TVG’s second funding in Darwinbox after a $40 million funding in August 2025.

The sooner transaction included each major and secondary capital and was supposed to assist Darwinbox’s worldwide growth, significantly in North America, alongside additional funding in AI.

Based in 2015 by Jayant Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi and Rohit Chennamaneni, Darwinbox supplies cloud-based human capital administration software program protecting areas together with recruitment, onboarding, payroll, efficiency administration and worker engagement.

Vineet Singh, who joined the crew in 2015, was elevated to co-founder in 2024 after serving as the corporate’s chief expertise officer.

Darwinbox’s platform is utilized by greater than 1,400 organisations and 4.5 million workers worldwide.

The corporate has elevated its concentrate on AI as a part of its product growth and world growth. In August 2026, it launched Darwinbox Cortex, an AI-native HCM platform designed to embed AI into the core of its HR software program.

Cortex launched with a bunch of design companions together with automotive expertise firm Visteon and healthtech firm Transcarent.

Microsoft is a strategic AI ecosystem accomplice for the platform, which additionally integrates with office purposes together with Slack and Glean.

Darwinbox co-CEO Jayant Paleti described the shift in direction of AI-native enterprise software program as a “generational shift”.

“With Cortex, we moved early and are main that shift in HCM, with a number of industry-first improvements together with the primary Context Graph within the class. Our focus now could be to work carefully with our prospects, drive actual adoption and worth, and scale AI utilization throughout the enterprise,” Paleti mentioned.

Darwinbox grew to become a unicorn in January 2022 after elevating $72 million in a funding spherical led by Know-how Crossover Ventures, taking its valuation above $1 billion.

Its investors additionally embody KKR, Companions Group, Microsoft, Salesforce Ventures, Peak XV Companions and Lightspeed.

TVG invests in late-stage expertise corporations and has backed a number of companies in India. Its investments within the nation embody logistics firm Xpressbees, monetary expertise corporations Perfios and Mintifi, and AI infrastructure firm Neysa.