Online teaching has become the new norm post-2020, where it is being seen not just as a replacement but also as a supplement to physical classes. It is therefore hardly a surprise that educational start-ups are making the headlines. Byju’s, the Indian educational technology and online tutoring firm, as well as the biggest e-learning start-up in the world, has nearly closed the deal on the acquisition of rival firm Toper Technologies Pvt., a transaction valued at roughly $150 million, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Toppr is a platform, like Byju’s, providing online learning materials to students from grades 5-12 and coding classes for classes 1-12. It has become the latest firm to come under the radar of Byju’s, which has been expanding rapidly over the past few months to cement its place at the top, as well as to meet the soaring demand for online education owing to the pandemic.
Back in January, another report from Bloomberg stated that Byju’s closed a deal worth $1 billion to acquire Aakash Educational Services Ltd., one of the most popular educational platforms in the country and a prominent name among the IIT-JEE aspirants.
Neither Byju’s nor Toppr made any comment regarding the announcement.
In September 2020, Byju’s had raised $500 million from its investors, including Silver Lake Partners, raising its valuation to nearly $11 billion. In November, it had raised $200 million in another round of funding, led by Blackrock to lift its valuation to $12 billion.
Mumbai-based Toppr, takes an app-based approach to education, containing video classes, mock tests, revision cards and live support for students stuck on any particular question. It also provides guidance on exams like JEE and NEET, as well as teaching code on a special unit named Codr. While not as large as Byju’s, it has more than 16 million students to its name, both in India and abroad.
Thus, it fits perfectly with the decacorn, which is working fiercely to make online learning just as good as actual live classes.
Sources revealed that the deal is close to completion but has not been finalized.
