Education technology startup upGrad has acquired The Gate Academy for an undisclosed sum.
The move is in line with its plans to enter the fast-growing higher education test preparation market in India.
Bengaluru-based The Gate Academy has over 57 coaching centres and nearly 200,000 learners preparing for the GATE and other entrance tests for public sector and government jobs across the country.
“TGA provides upGrad a non-linear growth opportunity in new-segment entry and deeper penetration in the semi-urban and rural markets, which is in line with our core vision of making Bharat employable by adopting the mantra of LifeLong Learning,” Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, cofounders of upGrad, said in a statement.
After the acquisition, TGA will continue as a subsidiary of upGrad and will retain the same brand name. upGrad said it will look to invest Rs 100 crore to produce over 20,000 hours of learning content in multiple languages, with a goal to reach one million test-takers annually.
“We aim to employ our extensive experience in both physical and online modes of teaching to create a world-class product that will bring fundamental changes in the way technology enables learning in the future,” said Ritesh Raushan, founder and CEO of The Gate Academy.
upGrad said that the acquisition was a first in a series to grow in the higher education market.
The acquisition also comes at a time when there has been significant consolidation in the ed-tech market in India, with leaders Byju’s, Unacademy and Vedantu all acquiring or investing in smaller rivals.
This has been driven by significant uptick in investor interest around the edtech sector following the Covid-19 pandemic which created an influx of new users to sign up for online courses, as offline tuition centres and schools remained shut during the lockdown.
