Education
HMI Learning joins hands with Germany’s Klett to boost early education
MUMBAI: HMI Learning Private Limited, the force behind the popular preschool and daycare brand Happy Minds International, is taking a giant leap forward with a strategic investment from Germany’s Klett Kita and Schule GmbH, part of the famed Klett Group.
The multi-year funding, set to roll out over the next two to three years, aims to accelerate HMI Learning’s growth from a single centre in 2012 to a projected valuation of around Rs 250 Crores (USD 30 million). The collaboration marks Klett Group’s entry into the Indian education market and signals a shared mission to raise the bar for early childhood care and education.
HMI Learning currently operates seven centres across Mumbai and Thane, catering to children aged four months to ten years. Over the years, it has touched the lives of more than six thousand children and partnered with over thirty corporates to provide premium childcare and early learning services. With Klett’s backing, HMI Learning plans to expand its footprint, enrich its curriculum, and bring global benchmarks into its classrooms.
HMI Learning founder and CEO Sonia Chugh, said, “This partnership is a milestone for us. Klett Group’s rich legacy in education and our shared commitment to quality learning make this collaboration especially meaningful. Together, we aim to set new standards in early childhood care and education in India.”
Klett Group board member Christian Doettinger added, “India is one of the most exciting education markets globally. We are thrilled to start this journey with HMI Learning. By combining our international experience with HMI’s deep local insight, we hope to make high-quality early education accessible to more families.”
The partnership promises a unique blend of global expertise and local understanding, creating a solid foundation for India’s youngest learners and empowering the next generation to flourish.
Education
Scaler appoints new heads for its online and offline businesses
Amar Srivastava becomes chief executive of the online business and group chief product officer; Vidit Jain takes charge of the offline schools
BENGALURU: Scaler is shuffling its top deck as the AI skilling race heats up. The Bengaluru-based tech education company has elevated two senior executives to lead its online and offline businesses, signalling a sharper push into an AI-driven market.
Amar Srivastava, previously senior vice president for product and business, has been appointed chief executive of the online business and group chief product officer. Vidit Jain has been elevated to senior vice president and head of Scaler School, taking charge of the company’s offline education units, the Scaler School of Business and the Scaler School of Technology.
The company has also recently appointed Ratnakar Reddy as head of enterprise for India and the Middle East and North Africa, with a brief to drive partnerships with governments and enterprises for AI-led skilling programmes.
Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder of Scaler, said the promotions reflect the company’s confidence in both leaders and the direction it is heading. “Amar and Vidit have been central to Scaler’s journey, and their elevations reflect our conviction in their leadership and the direction we are shaping as a company,” he said. “With leadership now in place across the business, we remain focused on building engineers the world’s best companies want to hire. In an AI-first economy, that mission is more urgent and more achievable than ever. Our next chapter is centred on building an AI-native workforce from India, equipped to compete in a technology-driven global economy.”
Srivastava brings over a decade of experience building education-focused ventures. He previously founded Intellify and was part of the early team at Doubtnut. At Scaler, he will lead the online business with a focus on growth, profitability and expansion into new segments, while strengthening the product ecosystem across the group. He is blunt about what the AI economy actually needs. “The AI economy does not have a shortage of tools. It has a shortage of engineers who can think clearly, build reliably, and keep learning as the ground shifts. That is what we are building toward,” he said.
Jain brings more than 15 years of experience across startups and consulting, including stints at MPL and McKinsey and Company. He will oversee growth and profitability of Scaler’s offline business. His priorities are immediate and unambiguous. “The offline experience is where depth gets built, and that depth is critical in the AI era. Over the next 12 months, our focus will be on consistent growth, stronger unit economics, and delivering outcomes for students while building long-term employer partnerships,” he said.
Founded in 2019, Scaler is valued at $710 million and backed by Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global and Lightrock India. Its parent firm, InterviewBit, has featured on the Financial Times’ Asia Pacific High Growth Companies rankings every year from 2021 to 2025. On average, Scaler’s learners see a 4.5x return on investment and a salary increase of around 126 per cent.
With leadership locked in across every business unit, Scaler is betting that the next wave of global tech hiring will be won or lost on the quality of engineers coming out of India. It is a big bet. But the numbers, and the promotions, suggest the company is in no mood to hedge.
