Ankur Capital backs training simulator maker Skillveri

Mumbai-based impact investor Ankur Capital has invested an undisclosed amount in Chennai-based startup Skillveri Training Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Skillveri creates simulators to deliver skill training. It claims that its AURA line of welding simulators can train workers at a fraction of the cost required by traditional training methods.

Besides industries, these simulators are used in vocational training institutes and polytechnic and engineering colleges such as IIT Madras and IIT Mandi. It is also expanding its simulation technology for a variety of manufacturing and construction sectors—for example, crane handling and spray painting.

The company will use the money for expanding its operations in newer geographies and to improve its product offerings.

The company, which was incubated at Rural Technology & Business Incubator (RTBI) at IIT Madras, was launched in March 2012 by Sabarinath C Nair and Lakshminarayan Kannan.

An alumnus of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Nair had served Vortex Engineering Pvt Ltd, Photon Infotech and Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. Kannan, an alumnus of IIT Madras, is founder and CTO of Vortex and managing trustee of Fractal Foundation.

This is the fourth investment made by Ankur Capital so far. Launched by Ritu Verma and Rema Subramanian in 2012, the fund typically invests between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 4 crore in startups in agri-business, healthcare and education.

An alumnus of Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), Rema has three decades of experience in building and scaling operations across various sectors like financial services, education, IT and  packaging. Ritu, who has done her PhD in Physics from University of Pennsylvania, had earlier worked with Unilever, Philips and Truven.

Ankur Capital that is investing out of Rs 40 crore fund raised from multiple Indian and overseas investors, is planning to invest in 10 startups in one year.

Last year, it invested Rs 50 lakh ($75,000) in convertible debt in Bangalore-based CropIn Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd, which provides a cloud-based platform to help farmers track their produce and consignment status.

Prior to that, the fund has invested Rs 50 lakh each in Daily Dump, a Bangalore-based waste management startup and Assam-based ERC Eye Care.