Edtech startup Imarticus Learning plans to raise Rs 35 cr for expansion

In order to have both online and offline presence, Financial services and analytics education startup Imarticus Learning is planing to raise Rs 35 crore.

Edtech startup is looking to expand its offine presence to 14 other centres across India and also move into emerging markets across Southeast Asia and the Middle-east, said its founder Nikhil Barshikar to ET. Although he did not disclose about whether he is talks with investors.

The company had secured $1 million funding in 2016. Recently, Imarticus went online with its courses, after almost five years of providing them offline. It has launched four online ‘Prodegree’ courses in partnership with HDFC, ENY and Genpact.

The fee for these three-month courses ranges between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000, while the certification programmes underneath them will cost anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000.

Barshikar said that online is convenient for both employers and employees and we plan to add six more programmes within two-three months. The firm garners 75% of its business from individual customers, while the rest comes from corporates. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Aditya Birla, KPMG and Accenture are among its customers.

The challenge with online training is maintaining quality and effectiveness. The mindset is also slightly changing these days, as young professionals today opt for these courses to build a fulfilling career and not just to land a job, he added. Mainly professionals in the age group of 27-35 take up these courses.

Although metros including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon drives 70% of the company’s business, tier II and III cities have more potential and the market has been maturing. Cities like Pune and Coimbatore have been growing, added founder.

According to a joint report by search giant Google and consultancy firm KPMG, online education industry is expected to grow almost eight times to hit $1.96 billion by 2021, with the number of paid users rising six-fold from 1.6 million now to 9.6 million, in India.

A bunch of Edtech startups have raised funding over the past one year. In April, Mumbai-based Haygot Education Pvt. Ltd, which runs ed-tech startup Toppr, raised Rs 2.16 crore (around $336,000) in a bridge round.

In March, most celebrated ed-tech startup in space, Byju’s, raised an undisclosed amount from Belgian family office Verlinvest, just three months after closing its last round. The Sequoia-backed startup has raised around $170 million over the past year.

Earlier, another startup Cuemath, raised Rs 102 crore in Series B funding from CapitalG  and existing investor Sequoia India.