Edtech unicorn Byju’s has bought Singapore-based Northwest Executive Education in a cash and stock deal as it looks to strengthen its higher education vertical, according to people familiar with the matter.
Byju’s bought the Singapore-based company through its wholly owned upskilling platform Great Learning, valuing Northwest Executive Education at a little less than $100 million, they said requesting anonymity.
“Byju’s is aggressively focusing on the higher education segment and Northwest Executive’s acquisition will just add to it,” said one of the people cited above. “Northwest Executive’s capabilities will go well with Great Learning,” the person added.
News agency VCCircle reported the development first saying that the deal would give ‘a milestone-based earnout component, to Northwest Executive’s founders. Byju’s did not respond to queries sent by Moneycontrol.
Founded in 2015 by Mohit Jain, Tamhant Jain and Maitreyi Singhvi, Northwest Executive Education offers programmes from global universities like Harvard Medical School, Berkeley University of California, Yale School of Management among others, according to its website.
Northwest Executive’s acquisition comes nearly a year after Byju’s had acquired 100 percent stake in Singapore-based Great Learning for $600 million. Byju’s had then said that it would invest another $400 million more in the higher education space. Earlier this year, Byju’s also acquired campus recruitment platform Superset for an undisclosed amount.
Byju’s has been on an acquisition spree since the start of 2021 as it is aggressively looking to consolidate its leadership in the online and offline learning space across categories and different geographies. The edtech unicorn has acquired more than 10 firms since the start of the pandemic as demand for online education skyrocketed with governments across the globe locking down people to curb the spread of the contagious COVID-19.
In March, Byju’s had raised $800 million in a funding round, which was led by Byju Raveendran himself, valuing the edtech startup at $22 billion. Raveendran had committed $400 million, with the rest coming from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners and BlackRock.
Last week, Moneycontrol had reported that Raveendran has set up a separate entity called Byjus Investments to route investment into Think and Learn, the entity that runs Byju's.
