Over a month after its parent Think and Learn acquired Mumbai-based WhiteHat Jr in a $300 million all-cash transaction, edtech decacorn Byju’s has acquired 3D virtual laboratory startup LabInApp. The deal size is pegged at $500,000, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Hubli-based startup enables K-12 students and teachers to perform curriculum-based science experiments in a real-time 3D computer graphics environment on desktops and mobile devices.
“Acquisition of LabInApp by Byju’s during the course of a global pandemic exemplifies the growth story of innovative ed-tech solutions. Unitus remains steadfast in mentoring early stage startups applying advanced technology to meet the needs of India’s lower-income populations and supporting them to scale newer heights,” said Will Poole, managing partner, Unitus Ventures, which is one of early investors in the company. With Byju’s acquisition, Unitus will be exiting the company completely.
About 75 per cent of schools in India lack fully equipped science laboratories because of lack of infrastructure and budget to support and maintain labs. Founded in 2015 by Pavan Shinde, Girish Shirigannavar, Pramod Ramdurg, and Vinayak Hulabutti, LabInApp addresses this problem through digital labs which are enabled by virtual simulation of lab equipment and experiments without requiring an expensive laboratory setup. The solution now has over 5,000 schools on-board across India.
“Technology has become the core to most human essentials, with ed-tech topping the chart; especially in the pandemic world. To further scale LabInApp’s products and potential, there is no better education platform than Byju’s, who have a huge number of K-12 students actively using their services,” said Shinde, who is co-founder and CEO of the startup.
With this, Bjyu’s, which is currently valued at around $11 billion, has already acquired half a dozen apps in edtech platforms in a bid to become a super app in the edtech space.
According to an Entrackr report, the mega edtech company is also in talks with doubt clearing platform Doubtnut at a valuation of over $100 million. This move could help Byju’s set up base in Tier III and Tier IV towns, where it is almost absent.
While in 2019 the Silver Lake backed company acquired US-based learning platform Osmo for $120 million as part of its international expansion strategy, in 2018, the company acquired math learning startup Math Adventures. Earlier in 2017, Byju’s also acquired US-based online tutoring apps TutorVista, Edurite and student assessment platform Vidyartha.
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