Byju’s acquires Great Learning for USD 600 million
Edtech major Byju’s on Monday said it has acquired Singapore-headquartered Great Learning for USD 600 million (about Rs 4,466 crore), and an additional USD 400 million to strengthen its position in the professional and higher education segment. will invest. The development comes just days after Byju’s announced the acquisition of US-based digital reading platform Epic for USD 500 million (about Rs 3,729.8 crore) and an additional USD 1 billion (about Rs 7,459.7 crore) investment in the North American market. Is.
Byju’s has acquired Great Learning – a global player in the professional and higher education segment – for USD 600 million in a transaction involving cash, stock and earnings, a statement said.
Byju’s, which has 100 million registered students on its flagship learning app, has invested an additional USD 400 million in this segment to accelerate the growth of Great Learning.
“The acquisition marked Byju’s strong push into the professional upskilling and life-long learning space globally with a total commitment of USD 1 billion, expanding its offerings beyond the K-12 and test prep segments, and the company’s Intensified development plans.” Said.
Great Learning will continue to operate as an independent entity within Byju’s Group under the leadership of its founder and CEO Mohan Lakhmaraju and co-founders Hari Nair and Arjun Nair.
“With this substantial investment, Great Learning will accelerate its organic and inorganic growth in India and global markets and expand its high quality, transformational offerings to learners everywhere.”
The partnership brings together Byju’s technology and materials expertise with Great Learning’s professional courses at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving industry dynamics encourage professionals to upskill themselves in India and globally Is.
“Empowering learners with the right future skills is a fundamental part of our vision. Great Learning is a globally recognized and reputable professional education company and this partnership expands our reach into this new segment.
“We are united in our mission of providing high-quality and industry-relevant learning programs to professionals in this competitive global economy. With our combined strengths, we aim to become the global market leader in this segment,” said Byju’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said.
Founded in 2013, Great Learning, a boot-strapped company, has delivered over 60 million hours of education to 1.5 million learners from more than 170 countries.
It leverages a curated network of over 2,800 industry expert advisors and the world to confer degrees, diplomas and certificates including Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), McCombs School of Business – University of Texas at Austin and others. level has collaborated with universities. Program.
Great Learning and its teams are based out of Singapore, USA and India.
“With BYJU, we will be able to accelerate our progress towards this goal and meet the growing need for upskilling in India and around the world.
“Going forward, as higher education goes online, we will leverage our combined strengths in technology, content, pedagogy and instructors to create unique learning opportunities for all at affordable prices,” Lakhmaraju said.
Launched in 2015, Byju’s has 6.5 million annual paid subscriptions, and an annual renewal rate of 86 percent.
The edtech space has seen strong growth globally, including in India, with the COVID-19 pandemic acting as an inflection point. Several offline classes went online to ensure continuity of education while adhering to social distancing norms.
Several players have raised fresh funding from investors, as seen with deals such as Unacademy’s acquisition of PrepLadder and Byju’s acquisition of Aakash Educational Services.
Byju’s is estimated to have raised about $1.5 billion in several tranches since April last year. Byju’s (Think & Learn Pvt Ltd) is backed by marquee investors including General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, Silver Lake and Tiger Global.
The company is aggressively acquiring companies to increase its presence across categories. In the past, Byju’s acquired TutorVista and Edurite (from Pearson in 2017) and Osmo in 2019.
Last year, the company had bought coding training platform WhiteHat Junior for USD 300 million and in April this year, it acquired Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) to increase its presence in the test preparation segment in the country.
Read also | Byju’s acquires Epic for $500 million, will invest $1 billion in North America
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