upGrad, Asia’s largest online higher education firm, has entered into an agreement to acquire Gurugram-based online higher education company Talentedge.
The latest development comes days after upGrad announced the acquisition of Global Study Partners (GSP), Australia’s largest study abroad company, for $16 million.
Founded in 2012 by Aditya Malik, Talentedge offers more than 60 courses in partnership with 20+ universities. The startup has partnered with top Indian and international institutes, including IIMs, XLRI, MICA, eCornell, UCLA extension, among others, and has more than 5,00,000 individual and corporate learners.
Speaking about the two companies, Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder and Chairperson of upGrad, said,
“upGrad has cemented its leadership position as the most integrated player in higher education in Asia, serving learners and working professionals across the age group of 18-50 years. Talentedge has meticulously built a strong business over the last decade and stayed the course in this space where most did not survive and we are very pleased to welcome them at upGrad as we build one of the largest EdTech companies in the world.”
According to a press statement, the acquisition is valued somewhere between INR 300 to INR 400 crore. Talentedge is slated to do revenue of over INR 130 crore this year and double its revenue in the coming year. Talentedge had acquired a significant stake in Hyderabad-based GreyCampus for an undisclosed amount in 2019.
Aditya Malik, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Talentedge, said,
“Coming together with upGrad enables us to access their best-in-class products and solutions, technology, and their data-driven pedagogical approach. Talentedge will continue to work with its university and institute partners to deliver the quality education to its learners across degree and certification programs.”
Founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh in 2015, upGrad offers higher education courses in collaboration with various universities. At present, the upskilling platform has partnered with over 300 universities with a user base of 2 million.
Mumbai-based upGrad entered the unicorn club in August this year after raising a total of $185 million from Temasek, International Finance Corporation. upGrad had acquired Impartus, a video-based learning platform for INR 150 crore, in a cash and stocks deal in May this year. In 2020, upGrad acquired recruitment and staffing solutions company Rekrut India and Bengaluru-based coaching institute The Gate Academy (TGA).
Since its inception, the EdTech major has been 100% owned, funded, and run by its co-founders and a capital-efficient business. This is upGrad’s ninth acquisition so far and there is likely to be more in the near future.
