The Kalpathi AGS-owned Veranda Learning Solutions has acquired Edureka, a live-instructor-led online solutions provider for the IT industry, for INR 245 crore (~USD 33M).
According to a press statement, the company is planning an outlay of around $100 million for acquisitions over the next six months to “seize the opportunities opening up in the edtech space”. This 100 percent acquisition marks Veranda Learning Solutions second buyout by the company since its launch in December 2020.
Edureka founded in 2011 by Lovleen Bhatia, Kapil Tyagi and Vineet Chaturvedi is best known for pioneering live online classes-based upskilling programs for working professionals. Edureka Partners with premier Indian Institutes like IITs, NITs and prominent international universities like Purdue to offer training in Cloud Computing, DevOps, AI-Ml, Data Science, Web Development, Cybersecurity, and other emerging technologies in addition to its own library of training resources.
Edureka’s instructor-led live online classes model has the best-in-class completion rates, learner satisfaction and career transition. Edureka’s training content is immensely popular amongst online learners and is consumed more than 1.1 crores times every month across its Blog, Q&A Community, and YouTube channels. Of the total student base, around 44 per cent are international students spread across 85 countries.
The company currently has more than 1 lakh subscribed learners who are trained by a more than 500 strong instructor pool with a bouquet of around 300-course offerings. Edureka is on a mission to enable transformative learning and career success in the digital economy for professionals and students across the globe.
Speaking about the acquisition, Executive Chairman, Veranda Learning Solutions, Suresh Kalpathi said,
“Veranda is in active discussion with multiple targets for acquisition to create a multi-modal platform that spans test prep, upskilling and supplemental education. With the current acquisition, we are poised to expand our footprint in Europe and the North American markets as well. For me personally, getting back into software education is existing and sets the stage for us to again do our part in meeting the rising demand for high-end skills in the country.”
Veranda is India’s first comprehensive 360-degree online education platform. It is building a unique online platform that will combine the best of technology, processes and methodologies to deliver high-quality content. The startup is focused on academic outcomes for its students, Veranda adopts a multi-modal delivery system backed by a rigorous and disciplined learning framework.
Veranda acquired the online business of Chennai Rac, a coaching institute for Banking, SSC and PSc exams in late FY2020 and launched Veranda Race. The company has also launched programs for CA and IAS aspirants this quarter under the brand of Veranda CA and Veranda IAS respectively.
