Human resource tech startup Hono on Wednesday said it has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Aakash Chaudhry, managing director of Aakash+Byju’s.

Chaudhry has made a $4 million personal investment, which is his first outside of the education sector. According to a press release, Hono raised the remaining funds ($1 million) from Hemant Sultania, Amit Khanna of Amaya Ventures, and Harsh Gupta of Udayat Group.

Hono has over 300 clients including IndiGo Airlines, Spencer’s Retail, Kanmo Group, Dainik Bhaskar, Al Fardan Group, NBC Bearings, HDFC Bank, Medicover, Aakash+Byju’s.

Hono, according to its release, has over 1 million employees on its AI-backed platform and has achieved growth of 2X during FY22. It now intends to scale up the business and sales vertical, and double client numbers, aiming at supporting 5 million people on the HONO platform in the current FY23.

Hono is looking to use the funds to expand its operations across India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, to increase its market footprint and strengthen its product offering.

“We expect Hono’s growth curve to show a much steeper rise hereon. Besides, we value the strong and constructive relationship with Hono, developed over years of association with them as a client," said Chaudhry who will join the Board of Directors of the company and will also be actively involved in guiding business operations.

“Having Aakash Chaudhry and our new group of investors in the fold, makes the HONO journey even more exciting. With this new impetus, we will be able to take this further and do it globally, at scale,” said Mukul Jain, founder & CEO, Hono.