Ex-Unacademy COO’s Startup Emversity Nets $5 Mn

SUMMARY

Led by existing investors Z47 and Lightspeed Venture Partners, the round also saw participation from Alteria Capital and InnoVen Capital

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to deploy the freshly raised capital to expand its footprint to more than 75 campuses

Founded in 2023, Emversity trains students to become nurses, therapists, caregivers, OT technicians, lab technicians, paramedics and other allied-health professionals

Former Unacademy COO Vivek Sinha’s edtech startup Emversity has raised $5 Mn (around INR 42.6 Cr) in its pre-Series A round led by existing investors Z47 and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The round also saw participation from Alteria Capital and InnoVen Capital.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which offers skill-based certificate and degree courses for healthcare students, plans to deploy the freshly raised capital to expand its footprint to more than 75 campuses.

Commenting on the fundraise, Emversity founder and CEO Vivek Sinha said, “Millions of roles in healthcare, hospitality and construction lie vacant, while one-third of graduates remain unemployed… Our employer-sponsored stipend model solves accessibility; industry co-designed curriculum ensure relevance; and our centres of excellence expand capacity”.

Founded by Sinha in 2023, Emversity trains students to become nurses, therapists, caregivers, OT technicians, lab technicians, paramedics and other allied-health professionals. Currently, the startup offers its courses at 36 educational institutes across 18 Indian cities, including Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Indore, Pune, Gurugram, among others.

Besides, the startup claims to have recently partnered with two undisclosed hotel chains to offer skill-based courses to train students in segments like room management, food and beverage (F&B) space and culinary. These programmes are anticipated to start this year.

The startup claims to have raised more than $16 Mn in funding to date.

Bridging The Skill Gap

Emversity is looking to tap into the growing demand for skill-based courses, which are witnessing renewed demand from youth across the country. To push this, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Budget 2024-25, announced a new scheme to train 20 Lakh youth over a span of five years and upgrade 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

Earlier this year, the Union Cabinet also approved continuation and restructuring of the “Skill India Programme” till 2026 with an outlay of INR 8,800 Cr. As part of this, the Centre also announced that the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 (PMKVY 4.0), the Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (PM-NAPS), and the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) Scheme would be subsumed under the Skill India Programme.

As per government data, 19,774 individuals have so far been trained in various artificial intelligence (AI) courses under PMKVY 4.0.