Edtech funding crisis sucks in two-decade-old firm and its thousands of students

livemint.com:

BENGALURU : One of India’s earliest edtech companies, iNurture, is in talks with Dubai-based Kimera Investment to raise capital to stave off a potential crisis that could leave about 500 employees and thousands of students stranded. iNurture, which partners with universities to offer specialised courses and skill-development programs, is facing a shortage of funds and has failed to pay salaries to its employees and faculty, according to employees and faculty members. As a result, teachers have either quit or stopped teaching, leaving students who have enrolled for iNurture courses across universities stranded.

This comes amid a prolonged funding crisis in the edtech sector that’s afflicted giants such as Byju’s and Unacademy as well as Kota’s test-prep coaching industry. “The delay in funding has affected our payments in the last few months. This has created some disruptions in a few universities," Ashwin Ajila, founder and chief executive of iNurture, said in response to Mint’s queries.

“We do have a placement team, which needs to be increased once the funding is in place," he added. Also read | The Kota factory war: How the cannibals came for the coaching giants The 19-year-old company, which typically collaborates with tier-2 universities to address the problem of employability, has raised a total $63 million from Bertelsmann India Investments, Ascent Capital, and Vetureeast, among other investors. It last raised a $15 million Series C round in a combination of debt and equity from ADM Capital in 2022, when it was valued at about $60 million.