Kenro Capital buys stake in K12 Techno for $40 million

Venture Capital firm Kenro Capital on Wednesday said it has made its first investment of $40 million, about Rs 340 crore, in K12 Techno Services, owner of Orchids International Schools.

Kenro Capital founder and managing partner, Piyush Gupta told PTI that the venture capital firm is buying part of equity from a large investor in K12 Techno, liquidating stock held by some employees and providing growth capital to the education firm.

"After the launch of Kenro Capital, we have had tremendous amount of interest from investors. K12 Techno Services is our first investment where we are investing $40 million," Gupta said.


Kenro Capital launched its maiden fund in November. The firm plans to invest in mature startups that have proved their monetization path and are profitable.

The firm will provide liquidity to the companies and investors before they are ready to go for public listing.

K12 Techno Services owns two brands -- Orchids International Schools, which offer comprehensive school services for kindergarten to Grade 12 and Eduvate, which provides curriculum content and platform services to schools.

Gupta said that K12's operating cost has high leverage and the cost of their network expansion will not increase in same proportion.

K12 MD and CEO Jai DeCosta said the company plans to add 8-12 Orchids schools every year. On Eduvate, plans are to add 100-150 schools on year-over- year basis.

Last year, K12's revenue was Rs 430 crore and this year, plans are to cross Rs 500 crore, DeCosta added.