TeamLease raises Rs 100 crores from ICICI Venture and Gaja Capital Partners for vocational education expansion

TeamLease Services, India’s largest composite staffing and education company, today 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 – it runs the only PPP Employment Exchange and one of largest PPP tribal training programs in the country.

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 recognize the important role of private capital in the evolution of the sector. We believe that TeamLease and its management team are best positioned to tap this opportunity.”

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 privatization of skill development is just reaching critical mass and this company has demonstrated its ability to scale.”

The National Skill Mission has set itself a target of making 500 million people employable by 2020. India’s labour market is undergoing five transitions – farm to non-farm, rural to urban, unorganized to organized, subsistence self-employment to decent wage employment and school to work. These transitions are constrained by three challenges – matching (connecting supply to demand), mismatch (repairing supply for demand) and pipleline (preparing supply for demand). TeamLease will now offer solutions to state governments, employers and candidates in all three areas across the country.

About TeamLease Services Pvt. Ltd:

TeamLease Services (TeamLease™), India's largest Staffing Company, has been leading the Temporary Staffing revolution in India for more than eight years now. In this short span of time, TeamLease has deployed more than half a million candidates, and in doing so, has emerged as one of India's largest private sector employers. The company currently has over 50,000 employees on its rolls, in over 700 locations across the country, working for more than 1400 clients. TeamLease Services also operates around 150 vocational training centres across India through its fully owned subsidiary IIJT. TeamLease serves its clients, associates and candidates through a nationwide toll-free helpline [600 12345], online employment exchanges in partnership with state governments, the web (www.TeamLease.com), and a host of employability initiatives such as assessments, training, counseling and job fairs.

About ICICI Venture

ICICI Venture is one of the largest alternative asset management companies in India with funds under management / advise in excess of USD 2 billion. Its investment focus areas span across private equity, buyouts, real estate, infrastructure and mezzanine financing. ICICI Venture, over the years has built an enviable portfolio of companies across sectors including pharmaceuticals, Information Technology, media, manufacturing, services, logistics, textiles, real estate etc thereby building sustainable value. ICICI Venture is a subsidiary of ICICI Bank, the largest private sector financial services group in India.

About Gaja Capital Partners

Gaja Capital Partners is a leading Private Equity investor focused on providing growth capital to emerging companies from emerging sectors in India. Gaja Capital (www.gajacapital.com) is a pioneer in India's education sector and its investments include Career Launcher, Educomp and TeamLease. Gaja Capital was created to be a unique source of Meritocratic Capital^TM in India and backs potential sector leaders in various sectors that includes the Financial sector, Consumer and Infrastructure ancillaries.