[Funding alert] Enterprise skilling startup Disprz raises $13M in Series B round led by Dallas Venture Capital and Mars Growth Capital

Disprz, a leading enterprise skilling startup, on Thursday announced it has raised $13 million in Series B round led by Dallas Venture Capital and Mars Growth Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investors Go1 (an Australian unicorn in this space), Tara India Fund IV being managed by KOIS, Auctus Capital (Family office of Vikas Phadnis, Co-Founder of Eurokids) and Kae Capital (a leading seed fund). Unitus Capital acted as the financial advisor to the company for this transaction.

According to an official statement, Disprz will use this capital, further to scale up product and engineering teams, establish a sales and marketing division in the US, expand its existing presence in South East Asia and Middle East markets, and invest in building industry-specific product solutions.

Founded in 2015 by Subramanian Viswanathan and Kuljit Chadha, Disprz is an AI-powered learning and skilling suite that empowers companies to right-skill their workforce to win in a digital-first world.

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“We are excited to welcome Dallas Venture Capital into the mission of Disprz. DVC’s founding team are former founders who have scaled and exited start-ups and their understanding of the SaaS space, coupled with their strong network in the US, make them a perfect partner for Disprz as we look to establish ourselves in developed markets, particularly the US,” added Disprz CEO Subramanian Viswanathan, a serial entrepreneur and alum of IIT-Madras, ISB and McKinsey.

How it works

The Mumbai and Chennai-based startup's multilingual app helps to onboard and engage employees, increase productivity, and continuously learn online. It works across the spectrum - from when an employee joins a company and as he grows and evolves.

With over 100,000 courses, the startup serves 200+ Indian and global customer base which includes Wellness Forever, More Retail, Times Internet, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Godrej Storage Solutions, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, KBZ MS General Insurance, Oman Oil, AIA Group and others.

The company's platform is used in several verticals, including banking, manufacturing, oil and gas, and retail.

Market size and revenue

Global learning and development spending stood at $360 billion in 2019 and the pandemic has thrown this spending into high gear, expected to touch $500 billion in 2025.

Disprz has consistently doubled in revenue year on year and calendar year 2021 has seen them grow by 150 percent. By 2025, the startup aims to achieve the vision of reaching a top line of $100 million across the globe.

“We started out as a single product company, but are now a multi-product company, addressing the skill needs of both frontline and knowledge workers through unique offerings, while solving key business problems. We are no longer just a good-to-have learning platform but a core business platform that can provide our customers with a competitive advantage”, stated Kuljit Chadha, Co-Founder and COO of Disprz.

“We are going deep into sectors such as banking, insurance, fin-tech, eCommerce and high-tech, where we have now developed deep expertise on skill recognition, skill measurement and skill impact. We aim to strengthen the efficient backbone of the brands that touch our daily lives. We already do this in India and emerging APACs and we expect to replicate this in major global economies,” shared Kuljit.

Commenting on the investment, Gokul Dixit, Venture Partner at Dallas Venture Capital added,

“The founders’ pedigree and vision, the company’s continued traction in emerging markets and the huge untapped potential for skills-tech globally, excited us to partner with Disprz. The pandemic has also acted as a catalyst to the rapidly growing skills-tech market. We believe that the DVC Advantage program, focused on start-up companies’ needs in multiple areas such as product and technology strategy, executive mentorship, talent acquisition and with an enhanced focus on business development, would greatly benefit Disprz during this exciting growth phase.”