Venture Catalysts made 4.2x return after partial exit from metaverse skill tech startup Cusmat

Indian early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts has partially exited from its portfolio startup Cusmat Technologies (Cusmat) with over 4.2x returns in less than three years, resulting in more than 60% XIRR.

When did Venture Catalysts first invest in Cusmat?

Venture Catalysts had first invested in Cusmat’s seed round in 2020 and took an exit in the $3.5 million Series A round that the startup raised in February 2023 from Arkam Ventures, Unitus, Better Capital, We Founder Circle, 9Unicorns, and MapMyIndia amongst others.

What does Cusmat Technologies do?

Cusmat Technologies operates an immersive skilling platform that large enterprises use to upskill their industrial workforce.

Founded in 2016 by Abhinav Ayan and Anirban Jyoti Chakravorty, The startup uses artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to recreate industrial facilities, train employees, and evaluate those employees.

Procter & Gamble, ABB, Vedanta, Tata Steel Mining, DHL, DTDC, Dr Reddy’s, Voltas, Schneider Electric, Toshiba Mitsubishi, Volvo, Sandvik, and Ultratech are some of its prominent custoemers.

Besides India, Cusmat is expanding its operations in other countries in the APAC and MEA regions.

How Cusmat is transforming the skill industry?

According to a report by the World Economic Forum and PWC, poor skills cost the global economy $6.5 trillion, out of which $570 billion is attributed to India alone.

Cusmat has found that workers trained through the Metaverse are about 30% more productive, 25% more efficient, and 70% safer compared to others. Additionally, these workers tend to stay in their jobs longer, with an average retention rate of 70%.

Statements:

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder and Managing Director at Venture Catalysts, said, “We have been invested in Cusmat since its Seed round way back when the term Metaverse was not even coined or was popular. We believed in the concept and continued to back them through their Series A round. The company has posted some impressive growth metrics in the last two years and with that they have offered their initial investors an option to exit with 4x returns."

Abhinav Ayan, Co-Founder & CEO of Cusmat, said, “The metaverse is the ideal environment to develop muscle memory and heightened retention needed for the optimum performance in real-world industrial activities. The great feedback from large enterprises across multiple sectors in India and South Asia has convinced us of the product market fit for our skilling metaverse platform. Our goal has consistently remained to positively impact the topline and bottom line of enterprises by improving the skill level of their operators & technicians.”

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