Manipal Education Group Acquires MeritTrac
Posted by Arun Uday on May 29, 2007
We have successfully exited from MeritTrac, an investee company of ours. Manipal Education Group, possibly the largest education group in India, has acquired controlling stake in MeritTrac. MeritTrac provides assessment and testing services to large corporations in India primarily for recruitment purposes. It focuses on corporate clients in the IT and BPO sectors. With all major IT and BPO companies hiring in the tens of thousands each year, we had foreseen the need for a specialized player in the evaluations space to aid companies in their recruitment process. MeritTrac seemed poised to emerge as a leader in this space and kudos to the mangement team of MeritTrac for their superb execution in defining a niche and going on to own it. Exactly the kind of plan a VC would like to fund and our beliefs have definitely been rewarded. Some shared learning from MeritTrac:
a. Focus pays: Like they say, there are riches in the niches. How many times have we heard that startups should have a clear definition of what they are seeking to do rather than trying to be all things to all people.
b. Be the spade supplier: Again, an old anecdote which says that the people who make best money in a gold rush are the guys who are supplying the spades. Classic case – Cisco, which supplied all the networking equipment during the internet boom and in the process became one the largest technology companies. Many a time companies are so focused on only the mainstream that they overlook lucrative opportunities on the fringes. Remember the dot com boom when everyone was trying to be an all encompassing portal and allowed Google to walk away with the search market. (Of course, tables have turned now and search has become mainstream and e’one is now trying to outdo G there. Are we missing other such opportunities on the fringe of search?)
c. Leaders are always valuable: If you are the leader in a space, it is extremely likely that you will be valuable to someone. A leader in a $100 million space is more valuable than a laggard in a $1 billion space.
All in all, personally, it is a v.good feeling to start my VC career on such a high note.
np said
Congratulations
Arun Uday said
Thanks NP
Prem said
Good Show, Arun
Dham said
Be very careful. Take everything in writing. They usually speak with a forked tongue. Good if u are really desperate. Remember Manipal has lost recognition by the MCI.
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