Byju's acquires online test preparation platform Gradeup, to rebrand it as Byju’s Exam Prep

Byju's founder Byju Raveendran

Ed-tech player Byju’s on September 7 said it has acquired online exam preparation platform Gradeup in a bid to bolster the ed-tech’s presence in the fast-growing online competitive examination preparation category. The acquisition will also help BYJU’s harness Gradeup’s pedagogy and student reach, the company added.

Gradeup will be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep and will cater to students preparing for 150+ exams over 25 exam categories covering Govt Jobs and PG Entrance Exams such as IAS, GATE, CAT, Bank PO/Clerk, Defence, UGC-NET, etc.

Speaking about the acquisition, Byju Raveendran, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Byju’s, said, “Our focus has always been on ensuring that every learner has access to the highest quality of teachers and content to help them learn better. With Gradeup on board, we will be able to further scale and expand our test-prep offerings in postgraduate level exams. Gradeup has already proved its mettle and we are excited to join forces with the seasoned team. We aim to bring our complementary strengths and expertise together to create engaging and personalised learning experiences.”

This is the fifth acquisition by Byju’s in the past one year after coding firms Whitehat Jr and Toppr, offline test preparation firms Aakash Educational Services and Great Learning.

Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO of Gradeup, said, “By combining live classes, assessments, and quality study material, we have built a highly specialised offering for students preparing for competitive exams. Together with BYJU’S, we will accelerate our growth and expand our reach across the country. Further, we will leverage their strengths in content to deepen our current product offering and broaden our coverage of exams.”

In an interview with Moneycontrol in July, Raveendran had said that the company will evaluate Initial Public Offering (IPO) plans in 12 to 18 months. However, the company has raised a total of 1.5 billion in the last 18 months and its valuation stands at $16.5 billion.

The last fundraise was of $350 million from UBS, Blackstone, ADQ, Phoenix Rising and Zoom founder Eric Yuan in June. Moneycontrol reported on August 25 that Byju's is in talks to raise $500 million more in a debt round via term loan B.