AN ACQUISITION SPREE – BYJUS ACQUIRES EPIC, TOPPR, GREAT LEARNING WITHIN A WEEK, EXPANDING THEIR FOOTPRINT TO THE US MARKET.

Byjus, an Indian online education platform headquartered in Bangalore, has acquired California-based digital reading platform, Epic in a $500 million cash & equity deal on 21st July. Within a week of this acquisition, Byjus has acquired Toppr, an after-school learning platform for $150 million & Great Learning, an upskilling platform for professional & higher education for $600 million. Having previously acquired Aakash Institute, a brick and mortar test-prep service provider for $1 billion, Osmo, an US-based playful learning app for $120 million, and WhiteHat Jr, a code-learning platform for $300 million. 

Founded by Byju Raveendran & Divya Gokulnath in 2011, this Edtech platform has become India’s most valued startup with a total funding of $2.7 Billion over 18 rounds. Their investor portfolio boasts prominent & marquee investors such as Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Bond Capital, Silver Lake, Sofina, Verlinvest, IFC, Aarin Capital, TimesInternet, Lightspeed ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority, with Blackstone Group & IIFL being the most recent investors. According to a report by RBSA Advisors, the edtech sector is projected to become a $30 billion industry in the next 10 years, and Byjus has been contributing massively to grow the Indian edtech industry, with Unacademy & Vedantu in close competition. Boasting an user-base of 80 million, out of which 5.5. million are paid subscribers, the new signups surged amidst the pandemic with 45 million users belonging primarily to Tier II or Tier III towns. 

Expanding their footprint in the US market, the acquisition of Epic, which has a user base of 50 million students & over 2 million teachers is going to allow Byjus to establish a global personalised education ecosystem. Speaking on the acquisition, Suren Markosian, Co-Founder, Epic said, “The alignment of missions and shared passion makes Byju’s the perfect partner, as Epic is confident that this acquisition will ignite excitement for learning around the world. Together, we can help empower future generations of kids by fostering a lifetime love for reading and learning.” 

On similar lines, Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s, said “Our partnership with Epic will enable us to create engaging and interactive reading and learning experiences for children globally. Our mission is to fuel curiosity and make students fall in love with learning. Knowing that Epic and its products are rooted in the same mission, it was a natural fit. Together, we have the opportunity to create impactful experiences for children to become lifelong learners.” With plans to invest $1 billion in the North American market, Byjus intends to bring Epic’s offerings across the globe, and expects to generate $100 million each in revenue from the three US offerings this year  alone. At present, Byjus is valued at $16.5 billion which has doubled from $6 billion within 12 months, making Byju’s the most valued startup in India.