Vedantu Buys Majority Stake In Test Prep Platform Deeksha For Over Rs 300 Crore
The acquisition comes only a day after peers Byju's and FrontRow announced layoffs amid what is being termed as a funding winter.
Bengaluru-headquartered edtech unicorn Vedantu Ltd. has acquired a majority stake in test preparation platform Deeksha for a deal size of $40 million (Rs 330 crore).
The acquisition is aimed at creating a scalable hybrid model which provides teaching in remote Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns at an affordable cost, Vedantu said in a press release.
The deal "will further support Deeksha’s pioneered learning model that specializes in competitive exam prep in sync with board exam prep through collaboration with schools and colleges," it said.
Deeksha, which is registered as Ace Creative Learning Pvt., is a Karnataka-based test preparation platform for board and competitive exam coaching for students in grades 11 and 12.
The press release said that both entities "envision digitizing classrooms in Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities where quality education is not accessible and bring forth immersive learning experiences to students."
As part of the deal, Deeksha will bring in 13,000 of its students to Vedantu's platform.
The acquisition comes only a day after peers Byju's and FrontRow announced layoffs amid what is being termed as a funding winter for startups.
In contrast, edtech peers such as recently-minted unicorn PhysicsWallah and Upgrad have been making a beeline for acquisitions, as the wave of consolidation favours a few.
Ronnie Screwvala-backed Upgrad has made as many as seven acquisitions this year, while Alakh Pandey's PhysicsWallah announced the acquisition of two startups—PrepOnline and Altis Vortex—on Thursday.