Edtech major Byju’s pours $750m into acquisitions of Great Learning, Toppr

Indian edtech decacorn Byju’s announced that it has acquired Great Learning, a Singapore-based player in the professional and higher education segment. The deal is valued at US$600 million, comprising cash, stock, and an earnout, according to a statement.

Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s / Photo credit: Byju’s

Byju’s has earmarked a further US$400 million in investment to accelerate Great Learning’s growth. Including the deal price, Bengaluru-based Byju’s has committed a total of US$1 billion towards its new acquisition. The move will likely help the company expand its offerings beyond the K-12 and test preparation segments.

The edtech giant has also acquired Toppr, an after-school learning platform based in India, for another US$150 million, a source told Tech in Asia. While Byju’s declined to comment on the matter when asked by Tech in Asia, an email sent to Toppr remained unanswered.

Both Great Learning and Toppr were founded in 2013. According to Great Learning, it has delivered over 60 million hours of learning to 1.5 million users in over 170 countries. Meanwhile, Toppr says it engages 35 million monthly active users with its after-school tutorials.

Byju’s has been on an acquisition spree over the last few months. This year alone, the company has shelled out over US$2 billion for acquisitions, including a nearly US$1 billion acquisition of the 33-year-old Aakash Educational Services.

Last week, Byju’s snapped up US-based digital reading firm Epic in a deal worth US$500 million.

So far, Byju’s raised US$2.7 billion in 18 funding rounds, which have attracted investors such as Tiger Global Management, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, and Tencent.

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

The Great Learning acquisition puts India’s biggest edtech firm in direct competition with upskilling and reskilling platforms such as Temasek Holdings-backed upGrad and Simplilearn, which counts The Blackstone Group as an investor

Byju’s said that following the deal, Great Learning will continue to operate as an independent unit under its founder and CEO, Mohan Lakhamraju, and co-founders Hari Nair and Arjun Nair.

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“Empowering learners with the right futuristic skills forms a fundamental part of our vision. With our combined strength, we aim to become a global market leader in this [online education] segment,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s.