Byju’s acquires edtech startup WhiteHat Jr. for $300m

Indian online learning giant Byju’s announced that it has acquired Mumbai-based coding education platform WhiteHat Jr. in a US$300 million all-cash deal as it looks to further expand its offerings in India and accelerate its US expansion plans.

Byju Raveendran, the founder & CEO of Byju’s.

According to a statement, Byju’s will continue to invest in WhiteHat Jr.’s technology platform and product innovation, while expanding its teacher base to cater to demand from new markets. WhiteHat Jr. founder Karan Bajaj will continue to lead and scale the business in India and the US.

An 18-month-old startup, WhiteHat Jr. helps kids between ages six to 14 build commercial-ready games, animations, and apps online using the fundamentals of coding and provides students in grades one to nine with live one-to-one online classes.

The company claims to be the second-largest edtech platform in India with a revenue run rate of US$150 million. It was already looking to expand in Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand after seeing 100% month-over-month growth in the US since February, according to the statement.

The WhiteHat Jr. deal follows Byju’s US$120 million acquisition of Osmo, a US-based company developing educational games, in January 2019.

See also: Edtech firm Byju’s keeps India focus as revenue growth triples

Byju’s, estimated to be valued at around US$10.5 billion, said it has seen 64 million students cumulatively learning from its app, 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions, and an annual renewal rate of 85%. It also doubled its revenue from US$191 million to US$374 million in FY 2019-2020.