upGrad Cofounder Mayank Kumar Launches Talent Mobility Startup ‘BorderPlus’

Over two months after quitting edtech unicorn upGrad, its cofounder Mayank Kumar has launched a new edtech startup, BorderPlus. 

As per the new startup’s website, it helps the talent pool in India land “nursing” jobs in healthcare facilities in Germany. 

“Founded by Mayank Kumar, co-founder of upGrad, BorderPlus is shaping the future of global talent mobility… We connect with highly skilled, culturally adept healthcare professionals to seamlessly meet your staffing needs across borders,” the description on its website and LinkedIn profile reads.

The startup will aid skilled professionals secure conditional offer letters and complete visa formalities. To apply for the job opportunities, the applicants would need a nursing degree and B1/B2 German proficiency.

As per reports, Kumar has joined hands with hospitality major OYO’s former president of European operations Ayush Mathur to float the new entity. However, neither the startup’s website nor Mathur’s personal social media handles point towards his association with BorderPlus. 

Inc42 has reached out to the startup to seek more details about the new venture. The story will be updated on receiving responses from BorderPlus. 

In a recent interview with CNBC-TV18, Kumar said BorderPlus would start with healthcare opportunities and later move to tech opportunities globally. 

Commenting on the motivation behind launching the startup, he said, “In India, you can’t monetise blue collar and grey collar enough because the starting salaries here are INR 15,000 – INR 20,000 per month. But the moment they get deployed internationally, their salaries go up to about INR 3 Lakh – INR 4 Lakh per month. That was the thought process. In this process, you solve the problem that the developed economies are facing in terms of skilled manpower and you solve the employment problem in India.” 

Kumar left upGad in October to found this new venture, leaving upGrad’s operational charge in the hands of cofounder Ronnie Screwvala. Back then, it was also reported that he was pitching his new startup, focussed on placing skilled Indian labour abroad, to investors. 

Following his departure from the company, the startup netted $60 Mn from Singapore state investment firm Temasek at a flat valuation of $2.25 Bn. Further, Screwvala also acquired Bharti Enterprises’ stake in the company for $20 Mn.

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