India’s Course5 Intelligence Raises $53 Million In Funding With Second Close Led By Nuvama Private Equity

Course5 Intelligence, an analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions firm based in India, announced on Tuesday that it has successfully concluded a $53 million round of investment with a second closure led by the Nuvama Crossover Series of funds managed by Nuvama Asset Management Limited.

Carnelian Asset Advisors Pvt. Ltd. and affiliates also participated in the second closing, according to a statement from Course5 Intelligence.

This financing comes after the first closing in May 2023 with 360 ONE Asset Management Limited (previously known as IIFL Asset Management Limited).

According to the statement, this funding will be supplemented by the company’s own cash reserves and cash accruals to provide for an M&A war chest in the $80 million area.

“The data and AI revolution is finally here, and the scope and scale of AI deployments across global enterprises are going to rapidly increase in the coming years,” stated Ashwin Mittal, Chairman and CEO of Course5 Intelligence.

Recent advancements in generative AI, natural language processing, and computer perception, he claims, have completely erased the limitations of what is possible.

“We want to ensure we maintain our leadership position amongst AI and analytics solution providers by strategically adding to our portfolio to maximise our value proposition to global corporates,” he added.

According to the statement, the adoption of advanced analytics and AI in enterprises is still in its early stages around the world, and recent advances in technological innovations may be the tipping point for widespread, democratic adoption across industries, with consistent growth expected over the next decade.

Collaboration with Course5 to capitalise on this opportunity is a natural fit for Nuvama Private Equity’s Crossover Fund strategy, which has successfully identified and invested in leaders across sectors with structural growth as well as in companies with established business models and seasoned management teams over time.

“The global increase in the complexity, type, and usage of data, as well as significant advancements in technologies such as AI, are driving adoption of data-driven intelligence through enterprises like never before,” said Pranav Parikh, Managing Partner at Nuvama Private Equity.

He sees this as a fundamental long-term trend and feels that Course5 is well-positioned to benefit from this wave of acceleration, given its prestigious customer base, industry domain expertise, and successful delivery strategy.

According to Vikas Khemani, founder of Carnelian Asset Advisors Pvt. Ltd., data analytics and AI are a significant revolution that is rapidly reshaping and disrupting organisations.

“Course5 is well positioned to capitalise on this massive opportunity over the next decade.” “We believe Course5 will provide superior value to all of its stakeholders in the coming years,” he said.

Course5 Intelligence has a defined M&A agenda, aiming for synergistic assets with $10 million to $20 million in revenue in the United States, the United Kingdom, and India, as well as smaller deep-tech AI businesses.

This round of expansion finance will support Course5’s inorganic growth objectives and allow the company to capitalise on synergies by acquiring new intellectual property (IP), skills, personnel, and/or critical customer relationships.

Incivus, an AI-based ad creation and optimisation technology business, has also been acquired by Course5.

With technologies like computer vision, computer audition, generational AI, and natural language processing (NLP), Incivus provides a precise, objective, and detailed evaluation of all creative variables of an ad and predicts the possibility of success.

Incivus’ powers to develop new ad creatives and change current ones are enhanced by generative AI.

The Incivus platform assists marketing teams in optimising the performance of their digital commercials before launch, allowing them to improve their return on investment (ROI), speed to market, and produce advertisements that resonate with target audiences most effectively.

Course5 is currently in discussions with five companies and intends to finalise two acquisitions during the next 12 months.

Course5 intends to use the investor funds for additional innovation in specific areas of applied AI such as deep learning, computer perception, natural language, and generative AI via Course5’s AI Labs, in addition to mergers and acquisitions.