Edtech major upGrad has acquired Harappa Education at a value of $38 Mn (INR 300 Cr). According to the edtech major, upGrad closed this transaction with present Harappa shareholders-Bodhi Tree Systems (a newly formed platform between James Murdoch & Uday Shankar ) and Cofounders Pramath Raj Sinha & Shreyasi Singh. Following the deal, all of them will join the upGrad cap table.
Cofounded by Pramath Raj Sinha, who is also the founding dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the founder trustee of Ashoka University, and Shreyasi Singh, ex-editor of India Inc, the New Delhi-based online learning institution offers self-paced courses to address the growing issues related to poor employability, inadequate leadership, and an ill-equipped workforce. Harappa has an active clientele of 100 mid and large-sized organisations. As per the company, Harappa aims to clock INR 75 Cr in revenue this year.
“Similar to the integrated approach that we have been able to achieve in the B2C segment, we intend to offer a complete suite of products to our enterprise partners. A combination of upskilling courses along with these critical skills that Harappa has to offer would set us apart. We see strong demand from our clients and with Harappa coming in, we believe we’ll be able to grow exponentially within the segment as we cross-leverage the synergies. Pramath and Shreyasi come with a strong business legacy, which in turn, further fuels our ambition of becoming the global edtech leader,” said Ronnie Screwvala & Mayank Kumar, Co-founders of upGrad.
Commenting on the development, Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh, Founders of Harappa Education, said, “Consolidations get like-minded entrepreneurs together to build powerful, inspired formations. We are delighted to expand on the immense potential of our unique curriculum of social, cognitive, and behavioral skills, with Ronnie and Mayank, who have created such an exciting global company. As a combined force, Harappa and upGrad will anchor our purpose and conviction to create a truly wholesome learning ecosystem for lifelong learners in India and abroad, with our time-tested pedagogy, flagship programs, and rich partnerships to guarantee unmatched outcomes for our learners and clients.”
EY acted as the advisor for Harappa on the transaction.
So far, the edtech unicorn has acquired four companies this year and 12 companies including WOLVES India since its inception, according to Crunchbase. However, the company claims that this is its ninth acquisition as the rest of the deals were acqui-hires. Also, interestingly, this is upGrad’s second acquisition in a month.
Further, in June, upGrad had secured $225 Mn from the US-based test and assessment company, Lupa Systems LLC and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Other investors such as Temasek Holdings, the family offices of Lakshmi Mittal, and Sunil Bharti Mittal also participated in the round.
In India’s edtech space, it faces competition from the likes of BYJU’S, Udemy, Unacademy, and Vedantu.
According to a report, India’s edtech market is likely to be pegged at $10.4 Bn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 39% during the period 2020-2025.
