CIOInsider India Magazine
Byju's Acquires Gradeup to Scale its Competitive Exam Segment
Indian edtech unicorn Byju's has declared the acquisition of Gradeup, an exam preparation platform to double down on the competitive exam preparation segment. Although the amount still remains under wraps.
The organization, which already has a presence in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), will expand its test preparation offering to include 150 exams over 25 categories.
BYJU's will rebrand Gradeup as BYJU's Test Prep, catering to students preparing for over 150 examinations across 25 exam categories, including IAS, GATE, CAT, Bank PO/Clerk, Defence, UGC-NET, and other government employment and PG entrance exams.
The exam preparation platform will help BYJU expand its footprint in the fast-growing online competitive test preparation area, as well as leverage Gradeup's pedagogy and student reach, according to the university.
This is BYJU's eighth acquisition in 2021, and the company has already spent more than $2.2 billion on acquisitions this year.
“Our focus has always been on ensuring that every learner 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 test-prep offerings in postgraduate level exams”, says Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, BYJU's.
In terms of acquisitions, BYJU is one of the most active edtech startups in the country and outside. The edtech decacorn has already spent over $2 billion on mergers and acquisitions in 2021. It had bought Whodat, a computer vision and augmented reality business, earlier in August.
BYJU's purchased Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for $950 million earlier this year, making it one of the most costly purchases in Indian edtech to date. Apart from obtaining an omni-channel play, the Aakaash acquisition allowed BYJU to increase its focus on competitive exams.
“By integrating live lessons, assessments, and quality study material, we have established a highly specialised offering for students preparing for competitive exams. We will accelerate our expansion and spread our reach across the country with the help of Byju’s”, states Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO, Gradeup.
“Our focus has always been on ensuring that every learner 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 test-prep offerings in postgraduate level exams”, says Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, BYJU's.
