Mumbai-based EduBridge Learning Pvt Ltd, which provides vocational training services to low-income youth, has raised $2.5 million (around Rs 17.2 core) in a Series A round of funding from Insitor Impact Asia Fund along with its existing investor Acumen Fund.
“We will be utilising the fund mainly for expanding our operations to Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar in 12 months,†said EduBridge’s founder and CEO Girish Singhania.
Singhania, who had earlier worked with Procter & Gamble and Edelweiss Capital, said a part of the capital will also go towards implementation of digital solutions and applications for imparting training.
The company, which was running its physical training centres so far, is soon coming up with new courses that would involve both online and offline mode of skill development learning.
Notably, VCCircle had first reported that the company was in advanced talks to raise $3 million in Series A investment from institutional investors in exchange for a minority equity stake.
EduBridge had earlier raised Rs 1.5 crore from Acumen Fund.
The startup at present operates 60 self-run training centres across 12 states—Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Assam.
It claims to have trained nearly 50,000 unemployed youth from rural India. “We are looking at increasing the number to 50,000 students per annum†said Singhania, adding the firm has given placement to over 67 per cent students so far.
The company claims to have partnered with 60-70 colleges to provide employment-linked training to the youth undergoing graduation.
It also conducts corporate training programmes for brands like Reliance Retail, Serco, Godrej, Axis Bank, DSP, Westside and ICICI Bank, among others.
Bangalore-based iSTAR Skill Development Pvt Ltd, another major player in the space, has raised funding from India-focused early-stage investor Unitus Seed Fund last year..