In the past year and half or so, the edtech sector has grown exponentially as it benefitted from the unprecedented shift to online classes once schools and colleges were closed. This has, simultaneously, led to the expansion and growth of several startups (some even evolved into unicorns).
Byju’s is one of the biggest players in the edtech game, and it has been making acquisitions left and right this year. This time, it added another name to the list, in the form of Austria-headquartered GeoGebra for what is said to be a $100 million deal and includes both cash and stock.
The acquisition of GeoGebra marks the tenth acquisition by the edtech major this year. It has already acquired several high-profile names such as Aakash Institute for a whopping $1 billion, coding platform Tynker, online exam prep startup Gradeup, Great Learning, Toppr, Epic, and others, spending over $2 billion in cash and equity deals.
Eight-year-old GeoGebra operates an interactive and collaborative mathematics tool and with over 100 million learnings across nearly 195 countries, makes a good investment on Byjus’ part, which has over 115 million students on its platform and is the highest valued startup ($18 billion) in the world’s second-largest internet market.
According to Byju’s, GeoGebra will continue to operate as an independent unit after the acquisition, under its founder and developer Markus Hohenwarter.
This acquisition will, according to Byju’s, complement its overall productive strategy and help create new product offerings and learning formats to its existing mathematics portfolio. With GeoGebra, Byju’s plans to make math “more engaging” for students, as well as gain a wider reach and get the best resources to build innovative and exciting next-generation learning formats.
“GeoGebra was born out of a passion to help students learn math in a visually appealing and engaging manner. Our passion for learning and teaching resonates with Byju’s, making them a perfect partner for our onward journey,” Hohenwarter said.
“At Byju’s, with the help of innovative teaching and technology, we have been making math fun, visual, and engaging. And with GeoGebra on board, we will continue to further enhance, reimagine and transform the way Math is taught and learned,” Byju’s Chief Strategy Officer Anita Kishore said, adding that GroGebra offered significant features that provide interactive resources that adapt to every child’s style and pace of learning.
