Edtech firm Byju's, on Tuesday, September 7 announced the acquisition of Gradeup, one of India's largest online exam preparation platforms. This marks the edtech unicorn’s eighth acquisition this year. Gradeup will be rebranded as Byju's Exam Prep and will cater to students preparing for exams in categories covering government jobs and PG entrance exams such as IAS, GATE, CAT, Bank PO/Clerk, Defence, UGC-NET, etc.
Byju’s said the partnership is expected to bolster its presence in the online competitive examination preparation category along with harnessing Gradeup’s pedagogy and student reach.
Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, Byju's, said the company's focus has always been on ensuring that learners have 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. Gradeup has already proved its mettle and we are excited to join forces with the seasoned team. We aim to bring our complementary strengths and expertise together to create engaging and personalised learning experiences,” he added.
Byju's is said to have 100+ million registered students and 6.5 million paid subscribers. “With Aakash Educational Services Ltd. already being a part of Byju's since May 2021, offering its highly effective learning ecosystem, Gradeup coming on board will help Byju's scale up in the test preparation segment further,” the company said in a statement.
Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO, Gradeup, said, “By combining live classes, assessments, and quality study material, we have built a highly specialised offering for students preparing for competitive exams. Together with Byju's, we will accelerate our growth and expand our reach across the country. Further, we will leverage their strengths in content to deepen our current product offering and broaden our coverage of exams.”
Byju’s has been on an acquisition spree in 2021, with the edtech giant having spent over $2 billion in mergers and acquisitions this year alone. In August, it acquired AR and computer vision startup Whodat. Byju’s other major acquisitions this year include Aakash Educational Services for around $1 billion, Great Learning for $600 million, Toppr for $150 million, and US-based Epic for $500 million.