iNurture Secures A Round In Debt From BlackSoil

Amidst the tough market conditions basis the pandemic, Bertelsmann & Ascent Capital-backed, Bengaluru based ed-tech start-up iNurture Education Solutions, the leading provider of higher education programs in India, has raised INR 10 Crs in debt from the Mumbai based new-age venture debt platform BlackSoil. This is in addition to the undisclosed amount of equity capital that the Company is raising from its existing investors. The Company shall use the funds primarily to accelerate its digital higher education platform and meet its working capital requirements. This marks the second time that Blacksoil Capital Pvt Ltd (“Blacksoil”) has lent to iNurture. Blacksoil had previously invested in iNurture in April 2017.

Founded in 2009, by Mr. Ashwin Ajila, iNurture is a pioneer in providing industry-relevant graduation and postgraduation degree programs in partnership with Industry and recognized Universities in India. iNurture is providing end-to-end delivery of program right from admissions to curriculum design and placement. The Company has partnered with 35+ universities across India and delivers over 50 programs on campus and has 10,000+ students enrolled in these courses. The Company’s higher education focused online platform is being used by more than 300,000 students. iNurture has raised  ~INR 200 Crs in total equity investment from marquee investors like Ascent Capital, Bertelsmann, Ventureast and Kimera.

Commenting on the fundraise, Ankur Bansal, Co-Founder & Director, BlackSoil said, “The unprecedented COVID situation today has opened up a wide array of opportunities for players like iNurture in the emerging ed-tech sector. As technology becomes an important catalyst in empowering students across the country, it is definitely the right time for us to take up this mantle. With universities being compelled to shift classes online, we will support iNurture at this time to help them deliver the much-needed courses online through their strong digital platform. With this context in mind, we are extremely glad to partner with them in their next phase of growth.”

Speaking on the current situation & fund raise, Ashwin Ajila, Founder & Managing Director, iNurture said, “The COVID crisis presents an enormous opportunity for us to support our Partners and engage with undergraduate and postgraduate students digitally and make them career ready, even within the confines of their homes. Company’s brand presence and its management team enabled by a unique partnership with Industry and Universities will allow the company to scale faster than the market through its unique curriculum design and digital readiness. We are currently in the process of raising an investment round of USD 100MM+, which we hope to close by the end of the year.”

Blacksoil’s alternative credit platform has successfully concluded over 40 transactions by deploying more than INR 400 Crs to VC backed growth companies in the past 4 years.

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