Mayank Kumar’s BorderPlus acquires German healthcare recruitment firm Onea Care

Edtech firm upGrad Co-founder Mayank Kumar’s new venture BorderPlus, a talent mobility platform connecting blue-collar workers to global opportunities, has acquired German healthcare recruitment firm Onea Care, as it aims to create opportunities for Indian nurses to work in Europe’s largest economy.

Kumar, who co-founded BorderPlus with Ayush Mathur—an early team member at OYO—shared in January with YourStory that the startup will initially target the healthcare sector in Germany, with plans to expand into hospitality, retail, teaching, construction, logistics, and trucking industries. It will also explore new geographies in the future.

In a statement on Tuesday, the co-founder duo noted that Onea Care's acquisition is a step toward ensuring Indian nurses and healthcare professionals have access to structured, fair, and high-quality job opportunities in Germany.

“We will continue to explore such opportunities across key markets to expand our presence and support Indian skilled healthcare talent to explore global career prospects. Such an approach is a critical part of BorderPlus’ growth strategy…,” they added.

The company statement did not include details about the transaction or the deal size.

In January, Kumar had shared, “Ayush’s presence is a key factor in our strategy; we will focus on creating direct partnerships, and if good opportunities for acquisitions arise, we will consider M&A.” He had added that M&As will be considered to establish a stronger presence in international markets, and when the need arises, “we will fund it ourselves”.

The startup's first acquisition comes after securing $7 million in funding led by Owl Ventures, with additional contributions from Flipkart Co-founder Binny Bansal, former CaratLane CEO Mithun Sacheti, OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal, Sparkl Edventure's Aakash Chaudhary, and Apoorva Patni.

BorderPlus has allocated $10 million for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to build an on-ground presence in India, Germany, and other key destination markets.

Onea Care, founded by Leon Bauer, specialises in recruiting nurses for countries outside the European Union, working with German clients to find healthcare professionals, providing training in their home countries through partner organisations, and managing the entire recognition process. It partners with top universities, hospitals, and healthcare chains.

“BorderPlus shares Onea Care’s deep commitment to quality and fairness in healthcare recruitment. I believe this acquisition will be a game-changer in addressing workforce shortages while upholding the highest ethical and quality standards,” said Bauer.

“Combining Onea Care’s long-standing amendments to supplying top healthcare talent, with BorderPlus’ focus on Indian healthcare growth, strengthens the company’s ability to scale ethical recruitment solutions while catering to the growing need for nurses in the country,” he added.

Germany is expected to need an additional 150,000 nurses by 2025 and aims to recruit 500,000 nurses by 2030 to address this shortage. India, with its skilled and experienced nursing talent, is well-positioned to meet this growing demand.