Online test prep venture MockBank buys web services firm Litoro

MockBank.com, which provides online mock tests for government job aspirants, has acquired web and mobile services company Litoro.

Financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.

As part of the deal, Vijayawada-based Litoro's employees have joined MockBank in Bangalore. Litoro's founder Suresh Bala now heads the engineering team at MockBank, the companies said in a press statement.

Litoro, run by Litoro Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd, was involved in developing the initial version of MockBank's product.

"We have acquired Litoro primarily for its experienced team. That they already knew so much about our product made the decision easy," said Konark Singhal, co-founder and managing director of MockBank Learning Pvt Ltd.

MockBank was founded in July 2013 by former Bain & Co executive Singhal, former IBM official Manesh Jain and former Sify executive Ramesh Narayanan. The company provides online test preparation service for PSU jobs at banks, insurance companies and other financial service organisations.

In September, Mockbank secured $400,000 in seed funding from Blume Ventures, Singapore-based angel fund Mercatus Capital, Slideshare co-founder Amit Ranjan and Bain & Company India chairman Srivatsan Rajan.

Arpit Agarwal, principal at Blume Ventures, said the MockBank-Litoro deal is another example of startups expanding their tech team through the inorganic route.

"It is becoming increasingly expensive to hire a good team, especially on the tech side. Traditionally, acquisitions have been primarily used to bolster revenue or for filling product portfolio gaps. We are increasingly seeing acquisition being used as a tool to bolster the team," he said.

The education technology space has been generating tremendous interest among investors.

Last week, Techcircle.in reported that New Delhi-based Eckovation Solutions Pvt Ltd, which runs a social learning platform for students, has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from Chandigarh Angel Network (CAN).

Prozo.com, an online marketplace for buying and selling study material, secured seed funding of $205,000 (Rs 1.37 crore) from a group of investors three months ago. US-based Coursera Inc, an education technology company that partners with universities to offer courses online, recently secured $49.5 million in the first closing of Series C funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Times Internet (TIL) and others investors.

Several M&As have happened in the edu-tech space over the last few months. On Tuesday, online career counselor and education services firm Careers360 said it has acquired Mumbai Angels-backed NoPaperForms for an undisclosed amount.

In September, Delhi-based education technology firm Wincourse acquired an 85 per cent stake in Mappr, a social learning platform where students can share notes and interact with teachers.