Emversity, an Indian startup that builds a talent pipeline, raised $30 million in a new Series A round with all-equity funding. The round was led by Premji Invest with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Z47. Post-financing, the company’s valuation approached $120 million, well above the roughly $60 million in the previous Series A round in April 2025. Total funding to date stands at $46 million.
India continues to grapple with a shortage of practical skills in the labor market: graduates often leave universities without job-ready skills, while the core services sectors face a scarcity of qualified personnel. In healthcare, the ministry reports there are about 4.3 million registered nurses in the country, with around 387,000 nurses graduating each year; however, the data indicate a deficit. In hospitality, too, there is a gap between demand and supply of about 55–60 percent.
Emversity aims to close this gap by integrating employer-designed curricula into university syllabi and creating skill centers under the NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation) for short-term certifications and employment.
Two years on, the startup has formed partnerships with 23 universities and colleges across more than 40 campuses and is focusing on the so-called “gray-collar” roles – positions that require hands-on training and credentialing: from nurses and physiotherapists to medical lab technicians, as well as in hospitality with guest services and food and beverage.
AI can reduce a nurse’s administrative workload, such as filling in patient data or electronic medical records. But AI cannot replace a nurse if you still need one in the ICU for every two beds.
According to founder and CEO Vivek Sinha, Emversity has trained about 4,500 learners and placed 800 candidates. The company works with Fortis Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Aster, KIMS, IHCL (Taj Hotels) and Lemon Tree Hotels to co-develop role-specific training modules and integrate them into university curricula. The revenue model does not charge employers; revenue is generated from contributions by partner institutions and short-term certification programs through the NSDC center.
Emversity demonstrates margins of around 80% and keeps customer acquisition costs below 10% of revenue, largely through organic channels rather than performance marketing. The company also offers a career-counseling platform for high school students, which last year handled more than 350,000 inquiries and accounted for over 20% of total revenue.
With the new funding, Emversity plans to expand its presence to more than 200 locations within two years, deepen its focus on health care and hospitality, and explore new verticals such as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and manufacturing. The company is in advanced talks with one of India’s leading EPC firms to develop and implement role-relevant programs this year, and manufacturing-oriented training is planned to begin next year.
To ensure consistent outcomes across campuses, Emversity combines an employer-driven training program with practical learning infrastructure, including simulation laboratories for clinical roles. Over the past year, revenue was roughly split between university programs and short-term certification courses through its own training centers.
Although Emversity is currently focused on domestic demand in India, the company sees opportunities to serve international demand as well, particularly in healthcare, as aging populations in countries such as Japan and Germany create a need for qualified talent. The company employs about 700 people, of whom 200–250 are trainers deployed across its network of campuses.
