TalentSprint Raises $4M In Series A From Nexus Venture Partners | VCCircle

Hyderabad-based skill development and training company TalentSprint Educational Services Pvt Ltd has raised Rs 20 crore ($4 million) in series A funding from Nexus Venture Partners. As part of the investment, Nexus Ventures’ MD Anup Gupta will join the company’s board.

Set up in 2009 by Madhumurty Ronanki, Santanu Paul, and JA Chowdary, TalentSprint offers employability programmes to professionals, using experiential learning and iPEARL, its technology platform for the IT and BFSI sectors. The learning programmes are delivered to students, job-seekers and young professionals to make them job-ready.

(Via TalentSprint Raises $4M In Series A From Nexus Venture Partners | VCCircle)

Edusys Raises $7.5M From Sequoia Capital | VCCircle

Bangalore-based online education training and certification company Edusys Services Pvt Ltd has raised $7.5 million (Rs 38 crore) from Sequoia Capital. With this round of funding, Edusys aims to expand its business by introducing new products and strengthening its core team and technology platform. Launched in 2004, Edusys currently has a customer base of more than 3,500 companies globally and supports students from over 150 countries. It offers specific courses and tests, which span a vast spectrum of conventional and emerging domains of learning and work. The company has offices in the USA, the UK, Singapore and Australia besides Bangalore and Bhubaneswar in India.

(Via Edusys Raises $7.5M From Sequoia Capital | VCCircle)

 

 

NYC tech takes on the classroom | Crain’s New York Business

New boost for interactive content:

Partly spurred by its concentration of intellectual talent, New York is also becoming a hotbed of innovation in educational technology. Venture capital investment in education-related startups in the metro area totaled $95 million in 2011—an 84% spike over the prior year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association. The number of startups receiving investment money rose to 14, up from eight in 2010.In the long run, newfangled interactive textbooks like the ones Apple and its publishing partners previewed last Thursday are likely to be a minor aspect of education’s digital revolution. But Apple’s entry is certainly helping the revolution along.

All doesn’t seem to be well, however:

In the fourth quarter, VC financing in the New York area plunged 40%, compared with the prior quarter, to $545.1 million.

But experts say the tech-education industry is just getting started. The U.S. business for e-learning products and services in the pre-K to 12-and-higher education markets will grow to $11 billion in 2015, from $7.6 billion in 2011, according to research firm Ambient Insight.

(Via NYC tech takes on the classroom | Crain’s New York Business)

Hat Tip: Samudra Sen

Pearson In Talks To Buy Educomp’s 50% Stake In Indiacan

Pearson Plc., the world’s largest education service provider and one of the leading media groups, is in advanced stages of discussion with Educomp Solutions Ltd to buy out the latter’s 50 per cent stake in Indiacan, a vocational education company formed as a joint venture between the two companies, at least two sources with direct knowledge of the development told VCCircle.

While the details of the company’s valuation are not known, sources close to the development peg the deal value (for 50 per cent stake) in the range of Rs 350 crore ($70 million) to Rs 500 crore ($100 million).

In 2009, Pearson Plc. invested $17.5 million in Indiacan (then known as Educomp Vocational Education Pvt Ltd), thereby valuing the company at $36 million.

(Via Pearson In Talks To Buy Educomp’s 50% Stake In Indiacan | VCCircle)

 

 

Now A Stationery Firm Launches Education Tablet!

Tablet makers appear to see a big market for selling devices to students. After Datawind’s blockbuster launch of the world’s cheapest Tablet Aakash and the more recent launch of Classpad, it is the turn of E-class Education System Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of public listed stationery products maker Sundaram Multi Pap Ltd to launch an education Tablet.

The company has launched a new Tablet PC called ‘e-class Tablet’. The Tablet comes inbuilt with e-class content and has been developed by Sundaram Group for Maharashtra State Board students. The Tablet has the entire syllabus of a selected standard preloaded inside it in a video format that includes animations, audio and visuals.

There are two models of the Tablet, a basic and a premium one. The basic model comes with a resistive touchscreen and is priced at Rs 8,000, while the capacitive touchscreen model is priced at Rs 12,000.

(Via Now A Stationery Firm Launches Education Tablet! « Consumer Tech « Techcircle.in – India Internet, mobile, consumer tech, business tech)

 

Dilip Modi-backed Omnia Invests Rs 7 Crore In Education Start-Ups

Dilip Modi-promoted Omnia Investments has funded candidate assessment venture Common Job Test and higher education firm Sunstone, picking up significant minority stake in both start-ups. According to a report by Economic Times, the total sum invested by Omnia in these early-stage start-ups amounts to Rs 7 crore.

(Via Dilip Modi-backed Omnia Invests Rs 7 Crore In Education Start-Ups | VCCircle)

 

 

Helion Advisors announces investment of US$ 3.5 mn in Vienova Education

Helion Advisors, one of the largest early stage venture funds in the country, today announced an investment of US$ 3.5 million in Vienova Education, an affordable private education provider based in Delhi, India. This follows the first round of funding by Indian Angel Network (IAN) and others in 2008. With this investment, Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal, Senior Managing Director, Helion Advisors, joins the board of Vienova.

(Via Helion Advisors announces investment of US$ 3.5 mn in Vienova Education)

 

 

Education-Technology Giants SunGard and Datatel Announce Merger

Two of the largest software companies in higher education, SunGard and Datatel, today announced plans to merge, after the private-equity firm that owns Datatel signaled plans to buy SunGard Higher Education for $1.775-billion.

via Education-Technology Giants SunGard and Datatel Announce Merger – Wired Campus – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Everonn to invest Rs 700 cr in training centres – Times Of India

Embarking on a vision of training 15 million students in India by 2022, education services company Everonn would invest Rs 700 crore in the next three years to set up training centres in the country, a top company official said.

(via Everonn to invest Rs 700 cr in training centres – Times Of India).

DB Corp To Pick Minority Stake in DMC Education | VCCircle

Ad-for-equity media investor DB Corp, that publishes Dainik Bhaskar newspaper, is investing Rs 2.67 crore in DMC Education Ltd. DMC Education (earlier known as DMC International) had diversified from its original business of real estate to education sometime back and has been actively snapping small firms to build its presence in the sunrise sector.

DMC Education has sewn a string of similar ad-for-equity deals with other media groups over the past year. Last August it announced that it has entered into a debenture subscription agreement with HT Media Ltd(that published the Hindustan Times)for a deal worth Rs 1.5 crore through fully convertible debentures.

DMC Education is into the fast growing field of providing training for various entrance examinations. It seeks to establish itself across India in the supplemental education market.

(Via DB Corp To Pick Minority Stake in DMC Education | VCCircle)

 

 

CLSA Capital Close To Putting Rs 100Cr In Resonance Coaching

More news on the coaching-class markets

Private equity interest in India’s bustling education sector only continues to grow. And this time, Kota-based Resonance Eduventures Pvt Ltd, a test preparation company offering coaching for IIT-JEE and other engineering entrance exams, is raising Rs 100 crore ($22 million) from CLSA Capital Partners, two persons with direct knowledge of the development told VCCircle.

While this may otherwise seem to be another deal in the busy ‘education’ market, it is interesting to note the valuation that Resonance Eduventures Ltd got, for this deal.

The deal which attracted the interest of about 10-12 players, fetched a significant premium to its publicly listed peer, Career Point Infosystems Ltd. Career Point, which has a market capitalisation of Rs 603 crore, is trading 15.4x its trailing PBT for FY11. According to VCCedge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, Resonance Eduventures had PBT of Rs 20 crore for the year ended March, 2010. This means Resonance is being valued over 40x its one-year-old PBT. Its latest financial numbers are not available yet. Resonance apparently commanded a higher valuation multiple in spite of having comparatively lower net profit margin (comparing Resonance’s FY10 with Career Point’s FY11 numbers).

(Via CLSA Capital Close To Putting Rs 100Cr In Resonance Coaching | VCCircle)

Core Projects Acquires UK’s ITN Mark Education For $25M | VCCircle

Mumbai-based Core Projects & Technologies Ltd has acquired the UK-based education solutions firm ITN Mark Education Ltd for a total consideration of $25 million. Core Projects has bought the firm through its subsidiary Core Education and Consulting Solutions UK Ltd.

ITN Mark Education, a provider of teachers and teaching assistants, has a topline of $33-$35 million and current EBIT margins of around 12 per cent. The company has been acquired from Ochre House Ltd, the recruitment outsourcing and talent management business backed by NBGI Private Equity.

 

Established in 1990, ITN Mark Education services around 1,600 schools from 16 locations across England and Wales. The company provides schools with qualified staff when they are in need of hiring. Headquartered in Manchester, ITN Mark Education has approximately 3,600 teachers and 1,300 teaching assistance vetted and available for work.

(Via Core Projects Acquires UK’s ITN Mark Education For $25M | VCCircle)

 

 

Tree House Education Raises Rs 19Cr In Pre-IPO Round | VCCircle

Tree House Education and Accessories Pvt Ltd, a school management company that operates a huge number of pre-schools across India, has raised Rs 19 crore from ON Mauritius, a subsidiary of Omidyar Network, and existing investors Matrix Partners India and Foundation Capital. The capital had been raised in a pre-IPO round of funding, the company announced. Tree House has also filed for an initial share sale to raise approximately Rs 150 crore.

(Via Tree House Education Raises Rs 19Cr In Pre-IPO Round | VCCircle)

 

 

iProf Gets 220 Million Rupees

Norwest Venture Partners and IDG Ventures India have invested 110 million rupees each in iProf India, which helps students prepare for competitive examinations for admission into engineering, medical and management colleges.

The investment will help iProf expand its footprint across India by opening around 100 more study centers, said Sanjay Purohit, founder and chief executive of the company.

The funds were open to investing more, he said.

India’s test-preparation market is worth $2.5 billion, and is growing at 15% a year, according to an estimate by iProf India. Via iProf Gets 220 Million Rupees Investment – WSJ.com

HDFC Invests Rs 50Cr In Career Launcher’s Indus World Schools

India’s largest mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. (HDFC) is picking up a stake in Indus World Schools for Rs 50 crore, a chain promoted and run by education firm Career Launcher (CL). Private equity firm Gaja Capital Partners, an existing investor, is also co-investing in this round.

Career Launcher Education Infrastructure & Services, which operates Indus World Schools, opened the first school in 2005 at Hyderabad and the second one in 2006 at Indore. Since then the School chain has grown to eleven in 2010 with schools in the NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Jalgaon. New schools are expected to come up in Karnataka, Haryana and a second school at Hyderabad.

Indus World Schools also partnered with realty firm Shriram Properties last year to open 25 schools in townships being developed by the latter in cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. Via HDFC Invests Rs 50Cr In Career Launcher’s Indus World Schools – VCCircle