HCL Group has acquired a majority stake in vernacular edtech platform GUVI which offers technical courses, the company said on Thursday.

GUVI offers technical courses such as Web Development, AI module, SQL, and various other courses created by industry experts in vernacular languages. It provides tailor-made courses for learners, universities and employers.

Guvi has also raised Rs 15 crore from Vama Sundari Investments, which is a promoter of HCL Technologies, which recently rebranded itself as HCLTech.

The Chennai-based startup scooped up Rs 6 crore in its pre-series A round from Education Catalyst Fund, an education-focused venture capital fund managed by CBA Capital. 

The board at Guvi has passed a special resolution to issue 1,878 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 79,906 per share to raise Rs 15 crore from Vama Sundari Investments.

"Through this investment, the aim is to address the critical technical skill-gap across enterprises," HCL Corporation Director and Shiv Nadar Foundation Trustee, Shikhar Malhotra said in a statement.

GUVI will focus on creating a demography-agnostic ecosystem that will allow all deserving individuals to acquire technological skills.

To date, GUVI has upskilled more than 1.7 million students and professionals in the latest technology skills and helped them gain placement across sectors, the statement said.

The fresh proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to meet capital expenditure, Guvi said in the filing. 

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 134 crore ($17 million) post allotment. The company also raised funds from US-based investor Gray Matters Capital in April 2019.

Founded by  SP Balamurugan, Arun Prakash, and Sri Devi in 2014, the IIT Madras and CIIE (IIM Ahmedabad) incubated company offers technical courses such as Web Development, AI module, SQL, and various other courses created by industry experts in vernacular languages.