IPO bound Imarticus Learning acquires MyCaptain

Professional education firm Imarticus Learning has acquired edtech startup MyCaptain for Rs 50 crore, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

MyCaptain, which empowers college students, fresh graduates and early professionals with skills and jobs in new-age, non-tech careers has over five lakh learners on its platform.

Tier 2 and 3 cities in India are faced with significant challenges in terms of skilling and awareness about new-age career opportunities. The acquisition of MyCaptain marks a significant milestone in Imarticus Learning's mission to deliver industry-relevant education even in the hinterlands. With this acquisition, Imarticus Learning has expanded its reach by entering the college skilling segment through the 60+ Live Cohort-Based Programs across new-age careers.

Through MyCaptain’s employability bootcamps in new-age fields like Digital Marketing, Design, and Content, Imarticus is set to expand into new verticals — bringing these programmes offline across their 20+ classroom centres in 16+ cities. MyCaptain has built a network with students across 1,500+ campuses, where 60% of its customers come from tier 2 and 3 cities, while 80% hail from creative and entrepreneurial fields.

With this, Imarticus Learning has marked its fourth acquisition in the last four years. The strategic move is a part of its goal to reach 5 million learners over the next three years and expand to tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

This acquisition expands Imarticus Learning’s team to over 850 employees and enhances its senior leadership with a group of ex-founders, adding entrepreneurial expertise to the organisation.

Nikhil Barshikar, founder and CEO of Imarticus Learning, said, “Our collaboration with MyCaptain marks a pivotal step in strengthening Imarticus’ vision to be the lifelong career partner for learners across their journey. While previous acquisitions have helped us diversify our portfolio and address evolving learner needs, with MyCaptain, we aim to deepen accessibility in non-tech career domains and significantly expand our reach in Tier 2+ cities.”

Mohammed Zeeshan, cofounder and CEO, MyCaptain added, “MyCaptain began as a movement to challenge the status quo and open up alternate career paths for students across the country. We now have the chance to take everything we’ve built and scale it even further, making new-age careers more accessible and achievable for more than 1 million students across India.”

Imarticus Learning in April 2023, acquired Hero Mindmine, the Hero Group training arm. It had also acquired game-based learning platform StratOnBoard in 2022, as well as social learning platform, Eckovation, in 2021.