Flipkart mafia-funded edtech start-up Crio acquired by Y Combinator-backed Skill-Lync

Crio.Do, an experiential learning platform for techies founded by former Flipkart employees, has been acquired by engineering-focused edtech start-up Skill-Lync for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, Crio will now operate as an independent brand under the Skill-Lync Group. 

Chennai-based Skill-Lync, which has over 30,000 students pursuing its coursework, is backed by the likes of Y Combinator, Iron Pillar, and other investors. Its last funding round of $17.5 million (Series A) came in May 2021. 

Crio, meanwhile, had raised angel funding from ‘Flipkart mafia’ in 2019. The round was led by Binny Bansal (Co-founder and Flipkart’s former Group CEO); Amod Malviya, Vaibhav Gupta, and Sujeet Kumar (ex-Flipkart and now Udaan co-founders); Mekin Maheshwari (Flipkart’s former Chief People Officer); and Ravi Garikipati (Flipkart’s former CTO). Later in 2020, it raised a seed round led by 021 Capital, and Ankit Nagori (ex-Chief Business Officer of Flipkart, now founder of Curefoods).

Started by Rathinamurthy R, who was the Senior Director of Product Management at Flipkart, in 2018, Crio.Do wanted to make tech talent industry-ready by helping them solve real-world platforms. “Crio was started with the mission of empowering students and under-employed professionals with high-quality experiential learning and helping them land their dream jobs in tech. Today we are really excited to become part of the Skill-Lync Group which shares a similar mission and approach towards learning,” the Co-founder said in a statement. 

Crio’s clients included VISA, Flipkart, Capillary Technologies, Reliance Jio, and other companies that hired tech talent through its platform. 

Commenting on the buyout, SuryaNarayanan PaneerSelvam, Co-Founder, Skill-Lync, said, “Both Crio and Skill-Lync were started because we wanted to solve a fundamental issue in higher education, i.e. making engineers industry relevant. Crio focussed on Computer Sciences and Skill-Lync focussed on Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Civil Engineering. We believe that we have a unique opportunity to build one of the best higher education platforms where we can provide value at scale.”

Through the acquisition, both companies are aiming to support more than 25,000 students with relevant job opportunities in the tech industry. 

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