Shobha Roy
Edutech brand Imarticus Learning, which recently acquired Delhi-based social learning platform Eckovation, is scouting for more acquisitions, particularly to boost the enterprise learning business.
The company, which currently has around 11 offline centres in Tier I and Tier II towns in India, is looking to increase it to 15 during the current year and then follow the hub and spoke model for further expanding its business.
According to Nikhil Barshikar, founder of Imarticus Learning, the company is in talks with four or five players in the enterprise learning business and would look at acquiring a company that would help it onboard more learners.
“Unlike earlier days, now there is a strong idea regarding lifelong learning. There is a lot of value that firms and hirers are attributing to lifelong learning. So there is immense potential to grow the business. We have earmarked around ₹25-40 crore for future acquisitions over the next one year,” Barshikar told BusinessLine .
New age programmes and partnerships
Following its recent $3.8 million acquisition of Eckovation, Imarticus has been focusing on bringing in synergies through enhanced new-age career-focused offerings in the space of AI, ML, cybersecurity, supply chain management, software engineering and more.
Eckovation’s academic partners include E&ICT - IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, IIIT Allahabad and BIMTECH, among others and through the acquisition, Imarticus plans to further strengthen its program mix, by offering flagship programs in collaboration with IITs.
Imarticus had also recently agreed to collaborate with BIMTECH (Birla Institute of Management Technology) for live online PGDM programs with specializations in new-age finance and data science.
The company is also in talks with IIMs and NIIT for exploring possibilities of collaboration.
“There is a lot of demand for professional new-age courses in collaboration with institutes of repute and subscription-based enterprise learning apart from placement focused courses. Some of the pillars of our growth will include courses around cloud computing, cyber security, IoT,” he said.
India accounts for nearly 80 per cent of its total turnover. It also has a presence in the Middle East and South-East Asia. The company plans to expand its footprint overseas and increase the share of revenues to 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent.