Orion Edutech buys 67% stake in cloud-based skill assessment startup Brain Valley

Kolkata-based skill development company Orion Edutech Pvt Ltd has acquired a controlling 67 per cent equity stake in Chennai-based Brain Valley Software Pvt Ltd, an independent assessment solution for corporates and education institutes, according to a press statement.

Financial terms of the transaction, however, were not disclosed.

The partnership is expected to help Orion Edutech with Brain Valley's scalable cloud-based solution, Quizky, to conduct error-free high-stake tests, addressing the $3.4 billion vocational/corporate training market in India which is growing at 15 per cent annually, the statement said.

"Brain Valley's acquisition will provide us an assessment platform which will seamlessly integrate with our training and skill development programmes. Considering the existing team's experience and expertise, it has the potential to achieve massive scale and play an important role in improving student learning experiences," Sanjeev Kothari, co-founder director of Orion Edutech, said.

Orion will now own the IP of Brain Valley's flagship assessment solution Quizky and the investment will help it expand its cloud-based simulated test interface, providing a detailed analysis, automating and streamlining tests.

Brain Valley was founded in 2011 and is providing more than 1.5 million assessments for an array of competitive exams.

"With Orion's investment, we will continue to invest in strengthening our technology and reaching out to more institutes across India," said Shankar Prabhu, founder and MD of Brain Valley.

Founded in 2007 by Manish Agarwal and Sanjeev Kothari, Orion Edutech is backed by venture capital fund Ventureast, which had invested an undisclosed amount in the company for a minority stake in the first round of funding in 2010.

Orion Edutech provides training to job aspirants besides placing candidates in companies and operates from 150+ training centres spread across 19 states in India.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)