Skillveri Training Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based training simulator maker, has raised Rs 8 crore ($1.1 million) in its Series A round of funding led by global philanthropic organisation Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the company's chief executive told VCCircle.
Sabarinath Nair said Skillveri’s existing investor Ankur Capital, a Mumbai-based impact investment firm, also participated in this round.
The company will use the capital mainly to diversify into six new regions and four new segments including painting, paramedical procedures and jewellery making, where "manual dexterity is highly valued", Nair said.
The company currently focuses on the manufacturing sector. Nair said the firm aims to help train five lakh youth for manufacturing jobs over the next five years.
“Skillveri simulators provide access to high-quality training, giving youth a headstart to well-paying jobs and meaningful careers,†said Rahil Rangwala, the director of family economic stability division at Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
The company, which was incubated at Rural Technology & Business Incubator at IIT Madras, was launched in March 2012 by Nair and Lakshminarayan Kannan. It claims it offers vocational training at significantly lower costs through its multi-skill simulators.
Nair is an alumnus of Great Lakes Institute of Management. He previously worked with Vortex Engineering Pvt Ltd, Photon Infotech and Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. Kannan, an alumnus of IIT Madras, is the founder and CTO of Vortex and managing trustee of Fractal Foundation.
In its previous round, Skillveri had raised an undisclosed amount from Ankur Capital in 2015.
"With our seed investment in 2015, Skillveri has not only launched a range of cutting-edge simulators but also received validation from various customer segments, across both industry and academia,†said Ankur Capital partner Rema Subramanian.
Ankur Capital mainly invests in agri-business, healthcare and education companes. It has backed several firms in the recent past. These include soil nutrient maker Suma Agro and cold chain technology startup Tessol.
The vocational skill training segment in the country has seen several deals in the past couple of years. Mumbai-based EduBridge Learning Pvt Ltd, which provides vocational training services to low-income youth, raised $2.5 million in a Series A round last year.
Bangalore-based iSTAR Skill Development Pvt Ltd secured funding from early-stage investor Unitus Seed Fund in 2015.
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