Early-stage investment firm Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), whose portfolio includes companies such as BluSmart, Otipy, Stage and Buyofuel, clocked another exit, as portfolio company Courseplay was acquired in a cash-cum-share-swap deal.
Courseplay, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, operated by Firstventure Corporation Pvt Ltd, was acquired by HRtech firm CIEL. The financial details of the transaction, were, however, not disclosed.
The sale comes more than a year after Courseplay raised around $400,000 in a seed funding round from IPV.
Mumbai-based Moxie Capital acted as the exclusive financial adviser to Courseplay on the transaction.
The acquisition is in line with CIEL's plan to go public in 2024-25 as it intends to strengthen its HRTech offering through the integration of Courseplay with its platforms like ProSculpt, HfactoR, Jombay and CielJobs.
“With our sights set on IPO in FY25, this strategic move will help us drive growth and innovation in the HR space,” said K Pandiarajan, executive chairperson, CIEL Group.
Courseplay, founded by Arjun Gupta in 2016, provides end-to-end solutions in training delivery, employee engagement, workflow automation and impact measurement.
IPV Exits
IPV had an active year in terms of exits. In 2023, the firm clocked 14 exits, generating an average internal rate of return (IRR) of 61% for its investors.
In 2023, IPV achieved a 217% IRR with a full exit from Project Light, resulting in a money-over-money (MoM) ratio exceeding 40x. It also made full exits from Koovers (IRR of 47%) and Sportido (IRR of 11%).
In addition, it made partial exits from 11 companies, delivering an IRR ranging from 20% to 97%. These include Oorjaa, Aerem, Devnagri, Ishitva, Kazam, Mindler, Healthysure, Bored Beverages, Clensta, and Reloy.
Overall, the angel network has recorded 38 exits in less than five years.