Online tutoring firm Vedantu has acquired doubt-solving app Instasolv. This was the edtech startup’s first acquisition as its peers continue to scout for strategic buyouts after raising multiple rounds of funding in 2020.
The move will strengthen its instant doubt-solving capabilities, wherein quality teachers will provide clarity over chats, Vedantu said on Monday. It will also help it grow in smaller towns where access to good teachers has been a challenge and doubt solving will be a key imperative for students.
The deal value was, however, not disclosed. Last year, Vedantu had invested $2 million in Instasolv, as part of its pre-Series A funding round.
Vedantu offers live interactive classes to students in the K-12 (Kindergarten to class 12) space, for all major boards and competitive exams such as the JEE and NEET.
During the pandemic, it entered the early learner segment with Vedantu SuperKids, its coding programme for 6-12 year olds, besides launching a reading programme.
Last year, Vedantu raised $100 million, as part of a Series D round, which doubled its valuation to $600 million. The round was led by New York-based hedge fund Coatue that has backed Uber, Spotify, ByteDance globally, and has invested in Swiggy and Rebel Foods in India.
Vedantu is the third most valued edtech startup after Byju’s and Unacademy. “Last year, we took a strategic decision to invest in Instasolv to strengthen our play in doubt-solving, which is one of the key aspects of learning online. We have seen tremendous potential in Instasolv and share the same mission to democratize education in the country,” said Vamsi Krishna, chief executive and co-founder, Vedantu.
In 2020, it offered 75 million hours of classes on its platform, to over 6.3 million students.
Edtech platforms benefited from the covid-led lockdown, which had forced educational institutions to suspend classroom teaching.
Startups in this space helped fill the gap with online classes to facilitate student engagement. Increased investor interest is also a result of the rise in digitization of education during the pandemic.
