Meraqui: Building Bharat's Workforce OS with Tech, Trust, and Vision

With 50 million+ man-hours and Rs 4 billion in payroll, Meraqui scales dignified livelihoods in India.

Key Takeaways

• Meraqui is redefining India’s workforce infrastructure through its tech-first WaaS, TaaS, and OaaS models.

• With a focus on frontline workers, Meraqui connects aspirants from Tier 3/4 cities to organised employment across India and beyond.

• Bootstrapped, profitable, and operationally efficient, Meraqui exemplifies scalable, impact-driven innovation in workforce management.

In a nation poised to supply 40% of the global workforce by 2050, Meraqui is transforming India’s demographic dividend into a demographic advantage. Founded in 2019 by Dr. Shalin Maheshwari and Lalit Singh, this pioneering platform is reimagining how India's frontline workers are sourced, trained, deployed, and empowered.

Bharat ke Innovators – Showcasing grassroot innovation at scale | 4th Edition | The Bharat Project

A Doctor’s Dream Beyond the Operating Table

Dr. Shalin Maheshwari began his career as an orthopaedic surgeon. But it wasn’t long before he realised that impacting lives on a larger scale required a different kind of operating room—one that addressed India’s employment ecosystem.

After experimenting with healthcare financing through his family’s lending business, Shalin met Lalit Singh, then the CTO. A shared vision for enabling dignified livelihoods in grassroots India became the seed for Meraqui.

With government-led reforms like Startup India, GST, and Jan Dhan Yojana setting a digital foundation, the timing was ripe. Together, they envisioned Meraqui not just as a staffing company but as an integrated, AI-powered Workforce as a Service (WaaS) platform.

The Meaning Behind Meraqui

Inspired by the Greek word "Meraki," Meraqui stands for putting soul and creativity into one’s work. It’s more than a name; it’s the company’s ethos. Meraqui bridges the digital and human gap for India’s 550 million-strong youth population, many of whom lack access to formal employment and digital identity.

A Full-Stack Workforce Revolution

Meraqui’s offering is a three-pronged solution:

• WaaS (Workforce as a Service): End-to-end lifecycle management—sourcing, onboarding, compliance, payroll, health and financial benefits, and career growth.

• TaaS (Talent as a Service): Tech-driven, skill-mapped talent sourcing that ensures right-job-right-candidate alignment.

• OaaS (Outcome as a Service): Performance-tied models where Meraqui delivers on business KPIs, from warehouse efficiency to telecom deployment.

All of this is powered by proprietary platforms like karam.ai and a low-code tech stack, providing scalability and precision across sectors.

From Villages to Global Verticals

Meraqui works with over 300 top-tier clients, including Reliance, Foxconn, Infosys, and L&T, across 30 industries and 28 Indian states. It connects aspirants from Tier 3/4 towns to permanent, gig, and contractual roles in Tier 1/2 cities, and now, international markets. In just six years, Meraqui has enabled over 50 million man-hours and managed ₹4 billion in payroll.

Its physical footprint has expanded from 12 to 36 offices nationwide, while acquisitions like Inara training and Skill development academy and Meraqui Eduventures private limited have supported growth in India, First Mile Consulting and First Mile Technologies have fast-tracked its global ambitions.

Scalable and Sustainable Growth

Meraqui is a rare breed—bootstrapped, profitable, and operationally agile. Early backing from Harsh Saraf’s family office and a robust balance sheet enabled the company to raise ₹55 crore in non-dilutive financing from banks recently to further a new 1500 crores orderbook in OaaS and WaaS. These funds have fueled geographic expansion, tech development, and worker services such as housing, skilling, and financial products.

The company’s ability to repeatedly raise debt from banks, based on a solid track record, Marquee bluechip client pool reflects its capital efficiency and business credibility.

Building for Bharat, Not Just India

While many competitors address slices of the staffing puzzle, Meraqui offers a holistic, worker-centric model. Its grassroots operations and tech-enabled transparency make it a trusted partner in a fragmented employment landscape. As digital literacy, compliance, and worker aspirations evolve, Meraqui is positioned as the backbone of India’s workforce transformation.

"Scale is meaningless without trust," says the founding team, emphasising localisation and empathy as foundational principles.

Toward a Workforce OS for India

Future plans include scaling further in Tier 2/3 India, enhancing skilling through Meraqui and expanding globally. The long-term vision is bold: to become the AI-powered operating system for India’s workforce—unifying employment, skilling, financial access, and social security

Milestones and Recognition

Meraqui’s accolades include being named an income tax-exempt startup by DPIIT, winner of the CNBC TV18 SME Champion Award, and one of only eight INDICORNS to reach ₹100 crore+ and profitability in under five years. It has been featured in Forbes India DGEMS and recognised by CII for HRtech innovation.

With 3 lakh job placements and presence across 300+ pin codes, Meraqui isn’t just building careers, it’s building a new India responsibly as a profitable enterprise.