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Education solutions firm iNurture raises $1.5 mn from BlackSoil

By Joseph Rai

  • 27 Apr 2017
Education solutions firm iNurture raises $1.5 mn from BlackSoil
Credit: Thinkstock

iNurture Education Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a higher education solutions provider, has raised Rs 10 crore (around $1.5 million) in venture debt from Mumbai-based non-banking financial company BlackSoil Capital Pvt. Ltd, it said in a statement.

The funds will help the company meet its working capital requirements and focus on its ongoing and fresh business initiatives, said Ankur Bansal, co-founder and director, BlackSoil Capital.

iNurture, which was started in 2008, partners with universities across India to provide job-oriented undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

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The Bangalore-based company, which is backed by Ascent Capital, Bertelsmann and GVFL, has partnered with 25 universities across the country and has a student base of 3,500.

The firm recently formed a joint venture (JV) with Paris-based higher education firm Galileo Global Education, it said.

The scope of expansion for the company is large as the market is still untapped, said Ashwin Ajila, founder of iNurture.

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Of late, the education sector has been attracting private equity and venture capital investments as the market potential grows.

In a sign of the maturity of the sector, Gaja Capital-backed CL Educate Ltd floated its initial public offering (IPO) recently.

According to a 2016 report by management consulting firm Technopak, India’s education market is valued at $100 billion and is expected to almost double to $180 billion by 2020, buoyed by the rapid expansion of the digital learning market and huge population.

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BlackSoil’s investments

The latest investment is the NBFC’s fourth venture debt transaction.

The specialised financing firm has also invested in retail data analytics company Node Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

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BlackSoil is promoted by three family offices – Shashi Kiran Shetty, promoter of AllCargo Logistics; Gala Group, promoter of Navneet Education Ltd; and Mumbai-based realty expert Virendra Gala.

Venture debt is an important funding channel for early-stage companies as it rarely involves stake dilution by the promoters. It also provides the firms more time to grow.

Apart from Mumbai-based InnoVen, Delhi-based Trifecta Capital Advisors, Bengaluru-based Capital Float, Chennai-based IFMR Capital and Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart are among a growing number of companies that offer debt funding to early-stage firms.

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