Indian EdTech giant and most valuable startup BYJU’S has acquired GeoGebra, an Austria-based interactive and collaborative learning platform for mathematics.
While the company did not disclose the value of the deal, sources said it is about $100 million.
As per a statement, the acquisition will help BYJU’S integrate GeoGebra’s capabilities to enable the creation of new product offerings and learning formats to its existing mathematics portfolio. It complements Byju’s overall product strategy and will boost BYJU’S efforts to make math more engaging and produce better learning outcomes.
Founded in 2013 by Markus Hohenwarter, GeoGebra has a community of over 100 million learners across 195 countries, bringing together geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics, and calculus in an easy-to-use format. The platform’s interactive multilingual learning environment is designed to make learning math a contextual, fun, and visual experience.
Commenting on the acquisition, Anita Kishore, Chief Strategy Officer of BYJU’S, said,
“The GeoGebra team has built a powerful and stimulating platform that complements BYJU’S mission of providing impactful learning for students. Designed to improve mathematical understanding, it offers significant features that provide interactive resources that adapt to every child’s style and pace of learning. 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.”
Currently, GeoGebra acts as both an enterprise and a non-profit organization that offers free learning tools on its platform. With an easy-to-use interface, the software can be either downloaded as an app or can be used online. The curriculum is available in multiple languages for students around the world.
According to GeoGebra, its commercial services support more than 300 education service companies and startups, while the non-profit wing supports students, teachers, researchers, and government agencies across many countries.
Speaking about the company, Markus Hohenwarter, Founder of GeoGebra, said,
“GeoGebra was born out of a passion for helping students learn math in a visually appealing and engaging manner. Our shared passion for learning and teaching resonates with BYJU’S, making them a perfect partner for our onward journey. I am confident that this partnership will help millions of students learn mathematics in an interactive way, in turn making them overcome their fear of math and learn to master it.”
Post the acquisition, GeoGebra will continue to operate as an independent unit within the BYJU’S group under the leadership of its founder, Markus Hohenwarter.
BYJU’S said it welcomes the social mission of GeoGebra and acknowledges its importance for mathematics education worldwide. The EdTech giant further said that it is ensuring GeoGebra’s current apps and web services will continue to be available free of charge, putting the power of mathematics into the hands of students and teachers everywhere.
BYJU’S is on an acquisition spree in India and globally as the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online education. In September this year, it acquired US-based K-12 creative coding platform Tynker for about $200 million. Some of the other deals include the $1 billion buy of New Delhi-based Aakash Educational Services (AESL) in April, and the $600 million acquisition of Singapore-headquartered Great Learning, a leading global player in professional and higher education.
The Bengaluru-based EdTech major aims to become one of the largest players in the space in the US, with a target to hit revenues of $1 billion in the next three years. BYJU’S claims to have over 100 million registered students including 6.5 million paid subscribers on its platform.
