Prominent online education startup in India, Byju’s is reportedly in advanced-stage conversations to acquire Gradeup, a test-prep firm, as well as Great Learning, a leading upskilling platform, for $400 Mn.
For those unversed, Gradeup was set up in 2015 to assist students with preparations for exams, including GATE, JEE, NEET, UPSC, CAT, banks, SSC, and Railways. The startup raised $10 Mn from the Times internet in 2019. Apparently, it displayed a net revenue of Rs 24 crore in FY20, while its net loss stood at Rs 33 crore.
On the other hand, Great Learning is a Gurugram-based company led by Mohan Lakhamraju and offers programs, such as data science, cloud computing, digital business, machine- learning, analytics, AI, and cybersecurity.
Sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Byju’s talks with both these firms have reached the post term-sheet stage. For the record, a term sheet is primarily a non-binding agreement that presents the terms and conditions of an investment.
Other sources have also revealed that Byju’s anticipates spending close to $330-350 Mn for the acquisition of Great Learning. Barring exceptions, both the deals will be supposedly closed by next month.
Insights from regulatory filings disclose that the eight-year-old bootstrapped company had an operating revenue of approximately Rs 227.60 crore in FY20, and projected an expense of Rs 239.82 crore, while the losses were posted at Rs 8.77 crore.
According to the CEO of Byju’s, Shobhit Bhatnagar, the company's net revenue was valued at Rs 60 crore in FY21.
It has also been speculated that the Gradeup acquisition would reinforce Byju’s game in the test-preparation vertical against Unacademy. Reportedly, Byju’s will shell out close to $40 to $50 Mn for Gradeup.
Previously, Byju's had acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd to boost its footprint in the test-preparation segment. The acquisition deal was worth more than $1 Bn and subsequently emerged as the biggest acquisition made by Byju's to date.
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