Blockchain based professional network SpringRole has raised $1.3 Mn in funding from AlphaBlock Investments, DNA (Brock Pierce and Scott Walker’s blockchain investment and consulting firm), Isaac Lee’s BlockWater and Wavemaker Genesis.

The startup has set a May 15 date for the public pre-sale of SPRING, an ERC-20 compliant token that ties a value incentive to verifying career information like educational attainment, work history and skills endorsements. Public sales of the SPRING token are expected to start at the end of June.

Kartik Mandaville, founder and CEO, SpringRole stated, “What we’re building is solving an all-too-real problem faced by every offshore company hiring in India, whether in support of in-house technical services or as part of an outsourcing transaction. Opening our beta to U.S. users is a key next step in bringing our industrial application of blockchain to a global market.”

Founded and led by Kartik Mandaville, Bengaluru-based SpringRole is building the first professional reputation network powered by artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to eliminate fraud from user profiles. The startup is building features like directory listing, search, job board, work attestation and reputation scoring on its platform. SpringRole has launched a referral program which enables beta users to invite their network.

The startup aims to solve challenges of hiring technical professionals, especially in countries like India, for outsourcing and global services arrangements by using blockchain coupled with an incentive-based utility token for attestation of educational and certification attainment, validation of work history and scoring of professional network referrals for skill sets.

Targeting a general availability rollout over the course of this summer, the startup aims to initially penetrate the Indian market for technical professionals. This will make it a valuable asset to American and European companies that are setting up offshore capabilities in India.

Scott Walker, an early SpringRole backer, said, “SpringRole is taking an important and risk-managed approach to solving a massive problem in the HR industry globally. By focusing on India, where they have already had success—and where the problem is particularly acute—SpringRole has an excellent opportunity to capture market share quickly and build a set of blockchain and API standards that can open them to additional opportunities as they grow.”

As per the Everest Group, the total Indian IT-BPO industry is valued at approximately $154 Bn annually and is expected to grow by up to 9% by 2019.