Edtech’s Indian unicorn BYJU is now doubling down on the competitive exam prep segment as it acquired online exam prep platform Gradeup on Tuesday.
The company, which already had a presence in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Entrance Eligibility Exam (NEET), will delve into the exam preparation space and expand its offering through 150 exams in 25 categories.
This marks the eighth acquisition for BYJU in 2021, which has already disbursed more than $ 2.2 billion in acquisitions, this year alone.
Earlier this year BYJU acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for a whopping $ 950 million, making it one of the most expensive acquisitions in Indian edtech to date. In addition to acquiring an omnichannel game, the acquisition of Aakaash was also in line for BYJU to double the competitive exams segment.
Subsequently, it also acquired Great Learning for $ 600 million to mark its entry into the professional skills enhancement space and spent another $ 500 million to acquire the US-based epic digital reading platform.
Following the acquisition, BYJU will rebrand from Gradeup to BYJU’S Exam Prep and offer exam preparation in all segments, including Graduate Entrance Exams, Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Graduate Aptitude Test (GATE) , the Common Admission Test (CAT), among others.
“Our focus has always been to ensure that every student has access to the highest quality of teachers and content to help them learn better. With Gradeup on board, we will be able to further scale and expand our exam preparation offerings in graduate exams. Gradeup It has already proven its worth and we are excited to join forces with the experienced team. Our goal is to bring together our complementary strengths and expertise to create engaging and personalized learning experiences, “said Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of BYJU.
Currently, BYJU has more than 100 million registered students and 6.5 million paid subscribers.
“By combining live classes, assessments, and quality study material, we have created a highly specialized offering for students preparing for competitive exams. Together with BYJU, we will accelerate our growth and expand our reach across the country. In addition, We will leverage their content strengths to deepen our current product offering and expand our exam coverage, “said Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO of Gradeup.
Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd, the parent brand of BYJU recently reported ₹ 2,380 crore of revenue in FY’20, compared to ₹ 1,305 crore in the previous fiscal year (FY’19).
However, the company’s growth came on the back of a significant increase in consolidated losses. Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd reported a consolidated loss of ₹ 262 crore in FY’20, a 30-fold increase from ₹ 8.82 crore in FY19.
