Native acquires strategic stake in RPO venture Woven

Mumbai: Native acquires strategic stake focused on India Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) startup Woven is part of a plan to create an integrated, end-to-end talent solutions platform, the companies said on Thursday.

Over the past few years, Native has transformed from one of India’s fast-growing executive search firms to a multi-platform talent agency. The latest investment marks its entry into the RPO segment, expanding its capabilities beyond leadership recruiting into established, scalable and technology-enabled talent delivery models.

“Our Vision 2030 has always been clear: to create an integrated talent platform that supports businesses at every stage of leadership and workforce building,” said Reuben Mistry, group CEO of Native. “RPO segment is a ₹5,000 crore+ opportunity in India and is becoming mission critical for rapidly scaling businesses. We are not just entering a new segment with Woven; “We are strengthening our depth of work and expanding our ability to serve our customers end-to-end.”

Led by founders Vinod Subramanian and Mithun Shetty, who have 25 years of collective experience in building and scaling multiple RPO programs across India, the new venture will operate under the Woven brand. The duo have leadership backgrounds spanning global talent organizations and bring business expertise to the corporate sector recruitment transformation.

Woven will operate independently, with Native providing strategic oversight and enterprise integration support. “Woven is designed to be a dedicated operating force for embedded and scalable recruiting,” Subramanian said, adding that the partnership signals a differentiated capability built for depth of execution, process excellence and long-term client partnerships.

Earlier this year, Native founded Northward, focusing on C-suite and board-level credentials, and introduced AlterNatives to support private equity firms and corporations with consulting and independent board appointments. The structure reflects a broader shift in executive search from transactional hiring to talent development partnerships, especially as companies and investors look for more specialized and flexible leadership solutions.

Mistry added that with the stake in Woven, this will result in the creation of a fully integrated talent ecosystem, offering a complete solution stack spanning boardroom, C-suite retained search, mid-to-senior level recruiting, on-call consultants, partial and temporary engagements, people consulting and large-scale embedded solutions.