Byju's on Main Stage of M&As in Edutech Space

Edtech major Byju’s has no plan to stop or slow down. After Aakash Institute, WhiteHat Jr and Scholr, now it is in talks with upskilling platform Great Learning and test prep firm Gradeup. It is assumed that talks with Toppr also continue simultaneously.

According to sources, conversations with both companies have reached the post-term sheet stage. “Byju’s is likely to spend over $330-350 million to acquire Great Learning,” stated a source. According to Entrackr, Facebook-backed unicorn is in "advanced-stage talks to acquire" the two platforms.

Great Learning is an eight-year-old bootstrapped startup. It offers programs in the field of Data Science, Analytics, AI, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity and Digital Business.

In the case of Gradeup, Byju’s is expected to spend $40-50 million to acquire it. It is an exam preparation destination based in Noida.

Companies acquired by Byju's in the last 12 months or in advanced talks:

WhiteHat Jr: It is a platform that introduces and prepares your kid from 6-18 years for this new coding world. They learn fundamentals of coding --logic, structure, sequence, and algorithmic thinking -- to generate creative outcomes like animations and apps.

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL): It is an educational institution in India that provides comprehensive test preparatory services to students preparing for medical and engineering entrance exams, school/board exams, KVPY, NTSE, Olympiads and other Foundation level exams.

Scholr: It is one of the fastest-growing AI-enabled online education companies. The app with the same name is an AI-enabled automated-answering platform.

Toppr: It is an after-school learning platform. It has more than 1.5 million learning pieces, including adaptive practice questions, solutions, concepts, and videos that come together seamlessly to give 360-degree learning. It uses artificial intelligence-based machine learning algorithms, to create personalized learning paths for millions of students. It is in advance talks with Toppr.

Byju's started looking at acquiring new edutech platforms within weeks of completion of AESL.

Other than acquiring, Byju's is raising money as well. It is raising nearly $150 million from UBS Group AG, which will take its market valuation to $16.5 billion, reliable sources said on Thursday. The funding will make it India’s most valuable startup.