[Funding alert] People management startup Great Manager Institute raises $283K in angel round

Mumbai-based Great Manager Institute (GMI), which provides personalised people management coaching across the globe, has raised an angel funding of $283,000 from a group of investors and advisors. These include Bala Malladi, CEO of ACT Fibernet; Srikanth Karra, CHRO of Mphasis; and Ramesh Shankar, ex-EVP of Siemens and a veteran HR professional. 

A former entrepreneur and angel investor, Srikanth Karra, said,

“Great Manager Institute has come out with a timely model of engaging and reskilling the managerial layer, which in my view is the spine of an organisation.”

Following the fundraise, Karra and Shankar have joined the technical advisory committee of GMI, while Malladi has joined the India Advisory Board of the firm. 

“It's a people manager who makes the difference in a good organisation, and not technology, brand or anything else. That’s why I decided to be a part of the Great Manager Institute,” Shankar added.

ALSO READ

[Funding alert] HRTech startup Kredily raises $750,000 in seed funding led by Fosun RZ Capital

GMI said, it has raised the capital at a fair market value (FMV) price of $6 million and will raise the next round at a proposed valuation of $15 million in the coming months. 

At present, the company will use the raised fund for branding, technology and research. GMI claims that it is operationally profitable, and has brought on the investors for strategic advice.

Founded in 2017 by Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Dalreen Patrao and Ashwin Srivastava, GMI uses artificially intelligent coaches and a community of experienced human mentors, to provide personalised sustainable learning to people managers. 

Ashwin Srivastava, Co-founder, GMI, said, 

“We went through a process of shortlisting and selecting investors and have partnered with strategic advisors who fit our criteria. We were keen to work with CXOs of global companies, with the experience of building businesses or excelling in domain knowledge.”

While Bhattacharya and Patrao have experience in the HR domain, Srivastava is a technology entrepreneur. 

The company claims to have more than 650 companies and 16,000 managers associated with it in India. GMI plans to expand its operation overseas in 2020. 

GMI, which also conducts the Great People Manager Study, recently announced an association with the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Bombay, to help startups become more people-focused at free of cost. 

(Edited by Suman Singh)

ALSO READ

Go-Jek acquires recruitment platform AirCTO, expands India operations