Analytics training platform Jigsaw Academy receives Rs 20 cr. in funding from Manipal Global Education Services

Jigsaw Academy, an ‘online school of analytics’ has received a Rs 20-crore funding from Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE). The company will use the funds to expand its global reach.

The company was founded in 2011 by Gaurav Vohra and Sarita Digumarti with the vision of providing analytics and big data skills to students and professionals worldwide.

The two co-founders are optimistic that the association with MaGE will help them improve their global footprint and successfully penetrate new markets. Gaurav, the company’s CEO, said, “We are very happy and excited about this strategic partnership. We believe that there is great potential in the analytics and big data training market in India and abroad. This funding round will help us take bigger steps in the global market more aggressively while opening up more corporate training opportunities”

Currently, the company sees about 20 per cent of its revenues coming from overseas markets such as USA, Australia, Europe and Singapore, with the remaining 80 per cent coming from India. After five years of bootstrapping, the company decided to raise external funding to help accelerate its growth in foreign markets. Sarita said, “Almost all of our marketing efforts have so far been focussed on India. Our focus going forward will be to increase marketing and create more awareness about Jigsaw Academy on a global scale.”

B2C channels contribute 80 per cent of its revenues, with the remaining coming from corporate training and tie-ups with educational institutions. Speaking to YourStory, Sarita said,

While we do offer custom training services for corporates, sales cycles are generally much longer and hence B2B channels are not very scalable. So our focus, going forward, will continue to be on B2C channels which work out better for distributed teams.

So far, Jigsaw Academy claims to have trained over 40,000 students from over 30 countries, and more than 100 corporates and IT giants across different verticals in the last five years, using its proprietary learning platform. The company, which has about 100 employees, offers courses across industries and functions, such as retail, e-commerce, finance, HR, and supply chain.

On the sector and the investment, S. Vaitheeswaran, MD and CEO of Manipal Global Education Services, said “We believe the company has established itself in the analytics and big data space, and the investment will help them achieve rapid scale. At MaGE, professional certification is our next big foray and this investment is a significant step in that journey.”

Sector overview and future plans

McKinsey Global Institute projects that by 2018 demand for data scientists may be as much as 60 per cent greater than the supply. Analytics and big data training is receiving a push in recent years and educational giants are willing to offer industry-relevant courses in association with institutes to bridge the demand-supply gap.

Globally, Simplilearn is a big player in this sector. In April, it had raised Series C funding of $15 million from Mayfield Fund and existing investors Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners. In June, the company went on to acquire Silicon Valley-based Market Motive in a $10-million deal.

Talking about the sector, T.V. Mohandas Pai, who is joining Jigsaw Academy’s Advisory Board, said, “Trained professionals who understand the right approach to applying analytics will drive new value propositions across industries and companies of all sizes. When empowered with training in the right data-driven frameworks and methodologies, they will show that big data is more than just a buzzword; it is a truly transformative approach to growing businesses and improving decision-making.”

YourStory take

The online education sector in India has witnessed a lot of growth in recent years, with the overall education industry pegged at $100 billion by IBEF. There are many platforms that offer online tutorials and coaching services for different exams. Most recently Khan Academy partnered with Tata Sons to offer content tailor-made for India. LinkedIn too sees potential in the education space and had acquired Lynda.com for $1.5 Billion in April. The backing from MaGE, which has a lot of experience in the education space and is well-connected in India and abroad, will help Jigsaw Academy grow and stay competitive in this industry.

Website: Jigsaw Academy

Disclaimer: Mohandas Pai is an investor for YourStory