“Outside of cash, we see a very strong value currency in our stock to look to merge/acquire companies with exceptional founders who will join us as fellow entrepreneurs to build this out over the next decade,” co-founder & chairman Ronnie Screwvala said.
The start-up is looking at companies that operate in the immersive short-form learning segment that will allow it to expand into global markets like Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.Ed-tech start-up upGrad has earmarked a significant $250 million for M&A deals that will be closed over the next seven to nine months. The firm has already identified specific segments and target companies, two of which will be announced over the next 60 days, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The six-year old start-up founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli raised $120 million in its first external funding from Singapore-based Temasek earlier this year and added another $40 million to its kitty with the backing of International Finance Corporation. The company valued at over $800 million currently is reportedly looking to raise another round worth as much as $400 million.
In a recent interview to FE, co-founder and managing director Mayank Kumar had emphasised that M&A will be key to its growth strategy.
The start-up is looking at companies that operate in the immersive short-form learning segment that will allow it to expand into global markets like Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam. “Till date, upGrad’s focus has been on high ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), deep learning. However, now…upGrad will also look at the high traffic, low ARPU players to kickstart its large product offering in short formats and soft skills market – leading to a subscription platform,” the company said.
upGrad claims to already capture close to 70% of the Indian Higher Education market for working professionals.
“Outside of cash, we see a very strong value currency in our stock to look to merge/acquire companies with exceptional founders who will join us as fellow entrepreneurs to build this out over the next decade,” co-founder & chairman Ronnie Screwvala said.
The market size of Indian ed-tech sector is estimated to grow by 3.7 times in the next five years, to touch $10.4 billion by 2025 from $2.8 billion in 2020, according to a recent report by EY-IVCA. The segment will see more than 37 million paid users by 2025.
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