Chatur Ideas Pvt. Ltd, a platform that connects startups with mentors and investors, has acquired Nurture Talent Academy, which provides training courses in digital marketing, finance and other areas to entrepreneurs.
“This deal takes Chatur Ideas one step closer to becoming India’s leading entrepreneurship training company,” founder Devesh Chawla told VCCircle. He didn’t disclose the deal value.
Chatur Ideas was founded in January 2015 by Chawla, an MBA, who earlier worked with wealth management firm Client Associates. It had raised a little under $1 million from Umasankar Nistala, managing director of global technology at JPMorgan Chase; Bhavin Shah of Radner Capital Advisors; Miten Mehta of Spinta Global Accelerator; and Amit Patel, managing director of business solutions firm mySetu; in August.
Some of the mentors involved with Chatur Ideas include Sunil Goyal, chief executive and founder at YourNest Angel Fund; Ajeet Khurana, ex-CEO at IIT Bombay's SINE; UR Bhat, managing director at Dalton Capital Advisors; Guneet Singh, market head (Southeast Asia and India) at Google; and Subhrangshu Neogi, Group CMO at Religare.
Chatur Ideas also has a syndicate platform called CI Ventures where startups such as crowdfunding platform Catapooolt, augmented reality firm Gamooz, and marketing automation firm MaaxMarket have raised funds. The company claims it is currently mentoring nearly 500 startups.
Nurture Talent Academy was started in January 2010 by IIT and IIM alumnus Amit Grover. He is also the founder of inter-city cab service AHA Taxis
Another online deal-making platform is LetsVenture,which raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A funding round led by Accel Partners, People Group's Anupam Mittal and 16 other investors in October last year. Tracxn Syndicate is another platform that helps startups raise funding from a network of investors.
Anil Joshi, managing partner at Unicorn India Ventures, these platforms are a great way to get startups funded. “There are many platforms, accelerators and incubators to mentor and advise startups. But their intake is limited, and there are so many founders coming from colleges who need guidance,” he said. But as long as platforms such as Chatur Ideas and its acquired firm are able to help startups beyond the initial stage and add value, such initiatives are helpful
