IPO-Bound Imarticus Learning Acquires MyCaptain For INR 50 Cr

IPO-bound upskilling startup Imarticus Learning has acquired Bengaluru-based edtech platform MyCaptain for INR 50 Cr in a cash and stock deal.

With this, MyCaptain will now operate as a fully-owned subsidiary of the Mumbai-based startup. All 250 employees of the edtech platform will be absorbed into the consolidated entity, Imarticus said. 

“We have absorbed all of them, including the founders, who will continue to run the business with us,” Imarticus cofounder and COO Sonya Hooja said. 

With the acquisition, Imarticus will look to bolster its course offerings by leveraging MyCaptain’s expertise in digital marketing and grow the latter’s “scale” by at least 5X over the next three years. Going forward, the Mumbai-based edtech startup plans to launch some of MyCaptain’s products at its various campuses across the country. 

“I think digital marketing was where we felt that there was a lot of innovation and growth for different learners, and we wanted to sort of build an entire learning journey in this domain,” added Hooja.

This is the upskilling platform’s fourth acquisition since 2021. 

Founded in 2012 by Nikhil Barshikar and Hooja, Imarticus is an edtech platform that offers courses and training to learners and corporate employees. It claims to have more than 40,000 learners across its platform with courses in finance, digital marketing, data analytics, GenAI, business management, human resources, among other areas. 

The startup co-creates its courses in partnership with institutions such as IIT Roorkee and IIM Lucknow. The platform also operates 20-25 offline training centers. 

On the other hand, MyCaptain was founded in 2016 by Mohammed Zeeshan, Sameer Ramesh and Ruhan Naqash. It offers courses across content, design, visual arts, finance and business. It claims to have surpassed 20,000 enrollments across courses.

Imarticus Eyes IPO

The development comes at a time when Imarticus is preparing for INR 750 Cr initial public offering (IPO). Last month, cofounder Barshikar told Inc42 that Imarticus is looking to file its DRHP in the next 4-5 months.

On the financial front, he said that the startup’s revenue stood at INR 205 Cr in FY25 and it was looking to grow this to INR 300 Cr to INR 320 Cr in FY26.  

“Our revenues have jumped by 16% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 205 Cr in FY25 and our EBITDA has grown by 100% in FY25. We are at a stage where we have predictable and profitable revenue,” Barshikar said. 

This comes at a time when the Indian edtech ecosystem is in a churn. Once the poster child of India’s edtech revolution, BYJU’S is now facing insolvency proceedings and a bevy of legal cases in courts across the world. 

In another development, Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal is said to be stepping down from the chief executive’s role, with board member Sumit Jain set to take over. Fellow cofounder Roman Saini is also reportedly exiting day-to-day operations.