Imarticus Learning, which offers online and classroom-based educational teaching, has raised $2 million in a Series B funding round from venture capital fund CBA Capital, the edutech startup said today.
Imarticus Learning had raised $1 million from investor Blinc Advisors and high net-worth individuals in 2016, said MD Nikhil Barshikar over the phone. It had in 2013 raised a seed round of nearly $700,000 from Anil Gudibande, co-founder of 1Crowd; Tashwinder Singh, director at private equity firm KKR Capital and Taranjit Jaiswal, director at Barclays.
Founded in 2012 by Barshikar and Sanya Hooja, Imarticus focuses on providing online learning in financial services, investment banking, IT, business analytics and wealth management through online and classroom learning.
Imarticus plans to utilize the funding to focus on expanding its international operations in Dubai, Africa, and Manila and establish institutes in cities like Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Indore.
“At this juncture, Imarticus needs sustained support to achieve its full potential in scaling both online and offline platforms to register massive growth. With the right resources, Imarticus Learning can accelerate its journey as a global leader in the tech-based up-skilling and cross-skilling domain,” said Vishal Bharat, founder and director at CBA Capital.
Imarticus claims to have trained over 30,000 students from the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, and aims to target 55,000 students globally by 2020. The startup targets a growth run rate of 100% in the next two years, Barshikar said.
The online education sector in India is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 52% to $1.96 billion by 2021, according a joint study by Google and KPMG.
Other players in edutech include startups like Byju’s (Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd), Unacademy (Sorting Hat Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and Upgrad (Pyoopil Education Technologies Pvt. Ltd).
“The funding will not only boost the brand’s status as a leading edutech company, but also help us take it to the next level of growth,” said Barshikar.
Mumbai-based Imarticus Learning has worked with 200 corporates across the globe by offering training and re-skilling programs, it said. It plans to open its second institute in Delhi, with the increasing demand for the financial services and analytics course. Imarticus Learning is currently present in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune.
Source: Mint