With an initial investment of $11 million, Vivek Sinha, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Unacademy, has started a new business called Beyond Odds Technologies. Lightspeed and Matrix Partners India led the seed funding round.
Along with other angel investors, including Ritesh Agarwal (founder of OYO), Gaurav Munjal (founder of Unacademy), Mayank Kumar (founder of Upgrad), Ramakant Sharma (founder of Livspace), Abhishek Goyal (founder of Tracxn), Rohit MA (founder of CloudNine Hospitals), Sumer Juneja (Managing Partner at SoftBank), Puneet Kumar (Managing Director at Steadview Capital), and Abhinav Sinha (COO of OYO), InnoVen Capital, a Temasek subsidiary, and Alteria Capital also participated in the round.
For the grey-collar workforce segment, the Bengaluru-based startup specializes in employability-led training, certification, and recruitment services. It links students’ talent with employers.
With its first location in Bengaluru on April 20, the company is launching Emversity, a higher education brand. By June, there will be six more locations in Hyderabad, Delhi, Nagpur, Kochi, and Ranchi. In collaboration with universities, these centers will provide certification courses and bachelor’s degree programs, including nursing, the company announced in a statement.
The company reports that Emversity’s first cohort will feature programs designed to fulfill the skill requirements in the healthcare industry, with partnerships with organizations like Core Diagnostics and Fortis Hospitals to facilitate internships and job placements.
In August 2023, after three years of service, Vivek Sinha announced his departure from Unacademy. From April 2018 to September 2020, Sinha oversaw business operations at Oyo.
His departure from Unacademy followed the departures of prominent figures such as chief marketing officer Karan Shroff, chief of staff Abhyudayay Rana, and chief financial officer Subramanian Ramachandran. Along with launching LightFury Games, Shroff also raised $8.5 million in a seed round led by Blume Ventures.
