Online higher education unicorn upGrad, has entered into an exclusive agreement to acquire Talentedge (Arrina Education Services, the Holding Company of Talentedge Education Ventures Private Limited), India’s fourth-largest online higher education company, for around Rs 400-500 crore.
“Talentedge has meticulously built a strong business over the last decade and stayed the course in this space where most did not survive and we are very pleased to welcome them at upGrad as we build one of the largest EdTech companies in the world,” said Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-Founder of upGrad.
“We are leaders by far in the higher education space in India,” Screwvala added. “Currently, we are twice as much as the next player, but we want to grow the gap to 4X before we branch out.”
He added that upGrad has cemented its leadership position as the most integrated player in higher education in Asia by serving learners and working professionals across the age group of 18-50 years.
Talentedge is slated to do revenue of over Rs 130 crore this year and double its revenue in the coming year. Sources say the deal value is at 3-4X this year’s revenue.
The Gurgaon-based company offers more than 60 courses in partnership with over 20 universities such as IIMs, XLRI, MICA, Cornell and UCLA extension from across the globe. It also claims to have more than 5,00,000 individual and corporate learners.
“Coming together with upGrad enables us to access their products and solutions, technology, and their data-driven pedagogical approach. It’s a win-win for learners and employers as a consolidated positioning enables us to serve them better. Talentedge will continue to work as is with its university and institute partners to deliver the quality education to its learners across degree and certification programmes,” said Aditya Malik, CEO and MD, Talentedge.
In August this year, upGrad acquired edtech firm KnowledgeHut, which is aimed at equipping the global workforce with the skills of the future through outcome-based immersive learning. With this acquisition, upGrad has ventured into the short duration upskilling and reskilling segment which has a market potential of over $ 58 billion.
Early this year, the firm acquired Impartus (now upGrad Campus) – a leading video-enabled learning solutions provider. In its new avatar, upGrad Campus is targeting higher education institutions and college students, with its learning tools and content. The acquisition is also bolstering upGrad’s presence in the university education space. The aim is to help the youth of Bharat (rural India) learn the necessary skill set to become more employable.
Last year, upGrad acquired Rekrut India (now upGrad Rekrut) – one of the leading recruitment and staffing solutions companies. This is enabling the firm to have complete involvement in the lifecycle of a learner – from education to employment.
upGrad also acquired The Gate Academy or TGA (now upGrad Jeet) last year – one of India’s premier coaching institutes. The Gate Academy offers the GATE and other entrance tests for various public and government sector jobs. With the acquisition, upGrad made its entry into the test preparation market. This is aligned with the brand’s ambition of rural India penetration strategy in making Bharat employable.
A week ago the edtech platform bought a 100% stake in Global Study Partners, Australia’s largest study abroad company, for $16 million, marking its first overseas acquisition.
However, Screwvala added that while it seems that upGrad is on an acquisition spree, it is not. “It may look that we are M&A aggressive, but we are not. I am a firm believer of build versus buy. However, this space is now open for some sense of consolidation. For us, the criterion for M&A is something that becomes very much an integral part of us the next day it comes.”
Cofounded by Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli in 2015, upGrad recently turned a unicorn, hitting a valuation of $1.2 billion with a $185 million funding round in August.