BYJU's Acquires Gradeup To Bolster Presence In Test Prep Market; 8th Acquisition In Past One Year

Doubling down on the competitive examination preparation segment, Bengaluru-based ed-tech major BYJU’s has acquired the online test preparation platform Gradeup, reports Livemint.

The development gains significance as it marks the eighth acquisition for BYJU’s in 2021 so far. It has already shelled out over $2.2 billion for this.

The company which already had a presence in Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) will be going deeper into the exam preparation space and expanding its offering across 150 exams in 25 categories. Post completion of the acquisition, Gradeup will be rebranded as BYJU’s Exam Prep.

Before this, BYJU’s acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for a whopping $950 million, making it one of the most expensive acquisitions in Indian ed-tech to date. Thereafter, it also shelled out $600 million to acquire professional upskilling major Great learning. It also spent $500 million to acquire the US-based digital reading platform Epic.

“Our focus has always been on ensuring that every learner has 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," Byju Raveendran, founder, and chief executive, BYJU’s was quoted in the report.