Global edtech company, BrightCHAMPS, has acquired Singapore-headquartered Schola, a live-learning platform for kids to master communication and English skills, in a $15 Mn cash and stock deal.
The company said the acquisition is in line with its $100 Mn investment war-chest announcement in June, and BrightCHAMPS’ vision of becoming the one-stop destination for all next-gen life skills for kids in the K-12 segment.
Announcing the deal, Ravi Bhushan, Founder & CEO, BrightCHAMPS, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Schola to the growing BrightCHAMPS family. The ability to communicate confidently, coherently, and creatively is a crucial life-skill for kids and a prerequisite for success as an adult, and we’re excited to have the exceptionally talented Team Schola lead this charge with BrightCHAMPS. Given Schola’s profitability and sustainable growth approach with low cash-burn, we already know that there is great synergy between the two companies’ operating models. I am confident that with Aditya and Nhu at the forefront, not only will Schola deepen our presence in the 30+ countries we’re already operational in, but will also help us introduce BrightCHAMPS to many other parts of the world.”
Schola was founded in 2019 by former senior Facebook executives, Aditya Gupta and Nhu Tran Le Thanh. The company offers a variety of courses in a live, one-on-one class model for kids from 4 to 15 years of age to build important capabilities for successful global careers for tomorrow.
These skills include communications, public speaking, leadership presentation, confidence-building, and several others. Additionally, Schola courses have been designed keeping in mind the particular needs of kids who are first-generation English speakers, with an emphasis on learning through the real-life practice of spoken English. The company currently offers classes to students from 12 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and others.
Aditya Gupta, Cofounder & CEO, Schola, said, “Schola’s mission is to build the world’s next generation of confident, creative and communicative kids. Far too many kids from countries and families that don’t speak English as their first language end up getting overlooked for higher education or career opportunities despite being perfectly qualified in every other way. Our goal is that lack of English proficiency should never again come in the way of a child’s dreams once they are touched by Schola. We’re excited to join hands with BrightCHAMPS, given our shared ethos and purpose. We hope that the combination of BrightCHAMPS’ brand equity and our subject-matter expertise will help Schola lead the world in the communications live-learning space. We look forward to expanding our presence beyond the 12 countries we are currently operational in the months to come.”
Launched in 2020, BrightCHAMPS is currently valued at $650 Mn, after raising $63 Mn from marquee investors across geographies such as US-based GSV Ventures, Singapore-based BEENEXT, and Premji Invest and Flipkart Cofounder Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital from India.
The company claims to be one of the fastest growing edtechs globally. It said it currently employs thousands of educators delivering 300k classes every month across its coding, financial literacy, and robotics verticals for kids between 6 to 16 years of age to help them become future-ready and thrive in a modern world.
BrightCHAMPS was founded by Ravi Bhushan, an IIT-Varanasi graduate, who had previously scaled two startups, including housing.com in its heyday, to growth stage businesses.
