Info Edge India, which owns naukri.com, jeevansaathi.com and shiksha.com, will buy 40% stake in New Delhi-based education content developer Applect Learning Systems for INR 6.5 crore.
The company has already paid INR 1 crore for the stake and will disburse the rest over the next 18-24 months, after Applect achieves some pre-determined milestones. Info Edge has tapped into its reserves, which stand at about INR 300 crore, for the stake buy.
Applect Learning is a subsidiary of IMS Learning Resources, which provides coaching for higher education entrance exams. It provides content development services with a focus on education in the K-12 segment.
Applect would utilise the funds to launch an education portal for the K-12 section, which may be a subscription-funded portal for K-12 curriculum.
Ambarish Raghuvanshi, chief financial officer, Info Edge India said, 'Out interest in Applect is because of their soon-to-be launched education site. While they will continue to provide content for Canadian schools, we are excited about the site, which would be India specific.'
This is Info Edge's second investment after education portal studyplaces.com, which is focused on the post-school segment. Applect's portal would target school going students.
Raghuvanshi said, 'We are looking at a couple of classified advertising categories such as education, real estate, matrimony, auto and financial products distributing portals,' he said.
