CIEL invests in Courseplay amid IPO preparations

CIEL Group, a Chennai-based HR solutions provider, has acquired 51 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Courseplay, a global learning experience platform, for $2 million. This is CIELs fifth investment since December 2022, said K Pandiarajan, Executive Chairperson.

As part of the deal, CIEL has acquired some shares from Courseplay Founder and CEO Arjun Gupta and IPV, a collective of angel investors. Gupta will continue to hold an entrepreneurial position in the organisation and remain CEO, he said.

CIEL plans to strengthen its HRTech offering through the integration of Courseplay with its platforms like ProSculpt, HfactoR, Jombay and CielJobs.

“Through these acquisitions, we remain a confederation of entrepreneurs with one or more people joining us as entrepreneurs,” he told newspersons on Tuesday. CIEL serves nearly 460 companies across industry sectors for temporary staffing needs and talent hunts for permanent positions in 2,600 companies.

The first acquisition, in December 2022, was the ₹25-crore purchase of 76 per cent in Jombay, a ‘talent assessment and development platform’ start-up, which will contribute ₹9 crore to this year’s EBIDTA. The next two acquisitions were companies set up by Pandiarajan himself — Ma Foi Strategy (strategic advisory mainly to MSMEs) and Ma Foi Education (skill development).

The fourth acquisition, announced in November 2023, was that of Aargee Staffing Services Pvt Ltd, funded by a combination of cash and share swap.