Edtech Startup Skill-Lync Acquires Online Learning Platform Crio

Edtech startup Skill-Lync has acquired online learning platform Crio for an undisclosed amount.

As per the startup, the acquisition will help Skill-Lync to enhance its offerings in the online education segment. Following this acquisition, Crio will work as an independent firm under the Skill-Lync Group.

Both the startups aim to provide employment opportunities to more than 25000 students in the coming two-three years. 

Set up in 2018 by Suryanarayanan P and Sarangarajan V, Skill-Lync offers online and offline engineering courses to students. Post the completion of the course, it offers placement services to students in various tech companies.

Skill-Lync claims that 30K students are presently enrolled on its platform and also partnered with over 350 companies to date.

“Crio focussed on computer sciences and Skill-Lync focussed on mechanical, electrical, electronics and civil engineering. Today, as both companies come together, we believe that we have an opportunity to build one of the higher education platforms where we can provide value at scale,” said SuryaNarayanan PaneerSelvam, cofounder of Skill Lync. 

In 2021, the edtech startup raised $17.5 Mn in its Series A round led by Iron Pillar. Existing investors Y Combinator and Better Capital also participated in the round. 

Founded in 2018 by Flipkart and Google employees Sridher Jeyachandran and Rathinamurthy R, Crio offers engineering courses to students and also helps them secure jobs in tech companies. 

As part of the acquisition, Crio’s founders will continue to run the business and grow its market leadership.

“Crio was started with the mission of empowering students and underemployed professionals with experiential learning and helping them land their dream jobs. Today, we are excited to become part of the Skill-Lync Group,” said Rathinamurthy R, cofounder of Crio. 

In 2019, the startup reportedly secured $1 Mn in its seed funding round from former Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal and Udaan’s cofounders. Founders (Ravi Garikipatiis and Mekin Maheshwari) of Udhyam Learning Foundation also participated in the funding round. 

The development has come at a time when the Indian edtech space has turned gloomy. Impending recession, funding crunch, market inflation and changing customers’ preferences have hampered the growth of edtech startups. 

Owing to this, edtech startups are shifting to hybrid models thereby, entering the offline market. In addition, they are taking extreme measures such as laying off employees to reduce costs. 

According to Inc42’s layoff tracker, about 7,500 employees have been sacked by edtech companies including BJYU’S, Unacademy and Vedantu, among others to date.