TeamLease Services, among the top staffing companies in India, on Tuesday announced that it had completed an equity fund raise of Rs 100 crore to fund the vocational education expansion of the company.
This capital was raised from ICICI Venture, one of India’s leading alternative asset management companies, and existing investor Gaja Capital Partners.
TeamLease Services, focused on the organized temporary staffing market since 2003, entered vocational education by acquiring the Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT) in 2010.
IIJT operates over 150 centres that deliver classroom and satellite training in five domains; Finance and Accounting, IT Infrastructure, Sales and Marketing, Retail and English/Soft Skills. The company has also begun work on TeamLease University that will offer associate degree programs in the same domains and will start operations later this year after regulatory and legislative approvals.
The company is also actively engaged with various state governments through Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
Commenting on the occasion, Vishakha Mulye, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Venture, said, “The Education and Staffing sector in India is poised for an exciting future as there is clear recognition within the Government as well as the private sector about the need to address gaps in the people supply chain, need for up-skilling of workforce, demand for quality training, etc with the current growth trajectory of India. At ICICI Venture, we recognise the important role of private capital in the evolution of the sector.”
The capital raised will be deployed for the vocational education initiative i.e. a rollout of IIJT centres, national satellite delivery capabilities, building a corporate training business, acquiring a footprint in new domains more suitable for students directly after Class 10 and the TeamLease University project.
Said Ashok Reddy, Managing Director of TeamLease Services,“Innovating in India’s people supply chain requires operating at the intersection of jobs and skills since companies are looking for trained candidates and candidates are looking for jobs. This fund raise allows us to create a corridor between certificates, diplomas, associate degrees and jobs.”
Commenting on their second round investment in the company, Gopal Jain, Managing Partner,Gaja Capital Partners, said: “We are delighted to partner with TeamLease again along with ICICI Venture by providing capital for the next phase of their vocational education rollout. The privatisation of skill development is just reaching critical mass and this company has demonstrated its ability to scale.”
