Financial services and analytics education startup Imarticus Learning has raised $1 million (around Rs 6.7 crore) from a bunch of investors including VC fund Blinc Advisors.
Amit Nanavati (IIM-A alumni), Tashwinder Singh (director of KKR), Anil Gudibande (1 Crowd Founder/former MD of RBS), Taranjit Jaswal (director at Barclays) and Amit Khanna (former partner at KPMG) participated in the funding round in their personal capacities.
The firm plans to utilise the capital to expand its product portfolio and its e-learning business in India as well as take it to Asian markets, Imarticus said in a statement.
“People are the product in the service industry and firms like Imarticus Learning, who study requirements and build relevant industry relevant programmes that are accessible across technology platforms pan-India and globally, are key to bridging the skill gap and helping companies meet their human capital requirements efficiently,†said Amit Ratanpal, founder and managing director of Blinc Advisors.
Run by Imarticus Learning Pvt Ltd, the startup offers over 20 programmes through offline and online delivery channels, while its B2B segment provides corporate training, train and hire mandates and management development.
Imarticus was founded by Nikhil Barshikar and Sonya Hooja in 2012. Barshikar holds a joint MBA from Columbia University and London Business School and has worked as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Nomura previously. Hooja worked with Accenture, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers before launching Imarticus.
The company, currently present in over 10 cities in India, plans to expand its retail platform domestically and internationally, focusing initially on the UAE, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
A bunch of ed-tech startups have secured funding over the last couple of months.
Earlier this month, Oust Labs Inc., a platform that helps students prepare for competitive exams using mobile gaming technology, raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from former Infosys director T V Mohandas Pai and Aarin Capital.
Last month, Jaipur-based EduCommerce Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs mobile-based education startup Myly, raised $100,000 (about Rs 67 lakh) in seed funding from Newbie Promoter Pvt Ltd.
In the same period, GZG Eduservices Pvt Ltd, which operates career planning and education advisory startup Gyaanzone.com, had raised $45,000 (Rs 30 lakh) in seed funding from Mumbai-based digital marketing company GBIM Technologies Pvt Ltd.