OnGrid revolutionizes background verification in India, eyes global expansion


In a swiftly evolving digital HR ecosystem, the new employee background verification process is also undergoing a digital paradigm shift. Traditionally, the highly fragmented background verification industry was entangled in the clutches of laborious manual sifting through piles of paperwork, tedious forms, and significant trust deficits. Rife with inadequacies, time delays, and trust gaps, the traditional background verification process couldn’t transcend its confined space.

However, a disruptive wave of change has swept away the traditional boundaries, making room for the emergence of technology-enabled background verification systems. Seismically altering the global verification landscape, OnGrid – India’s pioneering, comprehensive, and expedited background verification platform – has propelled the creation of a secure workplace environment based on faster, more accurate, and cost-efficient background checks.

The platform has championed the notion of delivering holistic verification services by leveraging technological tools and innovative methodologies to mitigate trust deficits and foster a seamless verification experience.

Inception and Initiation
Founded in 2016 by two IIT Bombay alumni, Piyush Peshwani (CEO and Co-founder) and Vineet Bansal (COO and Co-founder), OnGrid has developed a comprehensive background verification system that caters to the diverse needs of various businesses. Initially funded by friends and family, OnGrid’s distinctive business approach, emphasizing systematic problem-solving, innovative go-to-market strategies, and value creation for clients, has played a pivotal role in establishing the company as a leader in this space. With over 3000+ organizations utilizing the platform, OnGrid has achieved healthy profitability for the past five years.

Reflecting on OnGrid’s vision, Piyush Peshwani, CEO and Co-founder of OnGrid, remarked, “India, along with many other geographies, grapples with a significant trust deficit. With numerous languages, cultures, and belief systems, India stands as a truly diverse country. Given this diversity, trust doesn’t naturally evolve, necessitating a systematic intervention. Much like a 4-digit PIN serves as a simple technological intervention for secure financial transactions in India, we require elegant solutions for complex and deep-rooted problems. Through our comprehensive verification model, we have successfully identified these simple interventions to bridge the trust gap, empowering individuals and organizations to conduct transactions with efficiency and confidence.”

How does it work?
Addressing the issue of trust deficit, OnGrid harnesses cutting-edge technology, including instant verification APIs, to streamline background checks, ensuring efficiency in the recruitment and onboarding process. What used to take weeks can now be completed instantly or within hours. Furthermore, the platform empowers individuals in the unorganized sector, providing them equal access to jobs and opportunities for upward mobility by allowing them to use their credentials with full choice and consent.

In a brief period, OnGrid has expanded its offerings to include more than 125 verification checks for its clientele. These checks encompass instant ID verification, rapid employment history checks, near real-time scrutiny of criminal and police records, education verification, address verification, global database checks, and more. Typically, an organization selects the top 5 to 10 checks as part of their background verification program, tailored to the staff profile and industry compliance requirements.

With comprehensive offerings tailored to its diverse customer base, the platform taps into the boundless potential of new-age technologies to verify and onboard a spectrum of users—from white-collar employees and blue-collar professionals to gig workers and individuals on the payroll of third-party vendors. Alleviating the challenges of information, document, and consent collection, candidates can directly provide information on the OnGrid platform itself or on the HRMS platform integrated with OnGrid APIs.

Continuing its innovative streak, OnGrid’s solutions, eLockr and Gridlines, have carved out a distinctive niche in establishing trust and ensuring instant, more accurate, and cost-effective verifications.
Business Growth and Future Plans

Since its establishment, OnGrid has steadily risen as a distinguished leader in the realm of background checks and verifications. The platform has effectively catered to over 3000 organizations spanning across 25+ industries, successfully completing over 200 million verifications with precision and efficiency.

As an ISO-certified paperless platform for end-to-end background screening, OnGrid has extended its operations to multiple geographies, drawing in notable clients from both India and the global stage. Among its illustrious clientele are industry giants such as Reliance Retail, Airtel, Ola, PayTM, Flipkart, McDonald’s, and more.

Highlighting OnGrid’s business growth, Piyush, CEO, and Co-founder of OnGrid remarked, “OnGrid’s remarkable expansion can be credited to our team’s concerted efforts to provide a seamless user experience, coupled with elevated levels of authenticity, accuracy, and improved efficacy, i.e., completion rates. Through the utilization of modern technology systems, we can effortlessly configure customized solutions for clients worldwide, automating intricate verification processes and offering elegant solutions at competitive prices.”

Pioneering a vision for a streamlined, optimized, and digitized future in background verification, OnGrid is positioned to make its mark in the global market by securing an initial group of international clients. The objective is to establish a universally recognized trust platform brand originating from India, celebrated for its innovative approach in addressing global trust deficits. This endeavor aims to catalyze the construction of a modern and improved working world.