upGrad acquires Impartus; Commits INR 150 Cr for buyout and its growth
~ Strengthens upGrad’s foothold in College Education; Impartus rebranded as ‘upGrad Campus’ ~
upGrad, South Asia’s largest online higher education company has acquired Impartus, a leading video-enabled learning solutions provider, and has committed over INR 150 Cr for the buyout and to invest in its growth.
Founded by three IIT-graduates, Amit Mahensaria, Alok Choudhary and Manish Kumar, Bengaluru-based Impartus develops cutting-edge, innovative technology solutions for education, with their core feature being virtual classrooms that allow for deep learner-teacher engagement. Impartus was the front-runner in allowing schools and colleges to migrate online at zero cost when the pandemic broke in 2020. The platform has successfully on-boarded over 280 HigherEd institutes, 50,000 teachers, and 6 lakh learners within a short span of 7 years.
Impartus, now a 100% subsidiary of upGrad, has been integrated into the edtech giant’s ecosystem and rebranded as ‘upGrad Campus’. In its new avatar upGrad Campus will target HigherEd institutions and college students, with its learning tools and world-class content, in an integrated solution. It is looking to close FY22 with around INR 85 Cr revenue, with the founders continuing to run & grow the business independently.
“One of the major challenges faced by graduates in India, is their lack of industry-ready and employable skillsets due to the inadequate curriculum of HigherEd institutions. The synergy of Impartus and upGrad will pave the way for augmenting college education by helping learners upskill with new-age courses, thus elevating their candidature for better career prospects,” said Amit Mahensaria, CEO – upGrad Campus.
With this acquisition, upGrad, which predominantly focuses on working professionals, will now be able to strengthen its presence among HigherEd institutions & learners, which is an INR 560 Billion market.
Ronnie Screwvala, Chairman & Co-Founder, upGrad said, “Our M&A strategy is focused on creating a career ecosystem and in helping build the blocks for India to emerge as the teaching capital of the world. Aligned with our vision, upGrad Campus will bolster our presence in the university education space and help the youth of Bharat learn the necessary skillset to become more employable and join the workforce as leaders of tomorrow.”
“All our M&As are thoroughly thought-through, strategic, and aimed at powering career success for every member of the global workforce as their trusted lifelong learning partner. This acquisition opens up a larger target group, as upGrad Campus will enable both HigherEd institutions and its learners, to get access to world-class learning materials. We welcome the team to upGrad family,” said Gaurav Kumar, President – Corporate Development and M&A, upGrad.
“Kaizenvest has been extremely proud to be the only institutional investor to partner with Impartus on its growth journey and see the company find a home with an international edtech leader in the higher education space,” said Sandeep Aneja, Founder and Managing Partner of Kaizenvest.
Given the market opportunity, this move will enable upGrad to add 50,000 paid learners in the very first year of the acquisition.
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About upGrad Campus:
upGrad Campus is a 100% subsidiary of upGrad that will target HigherEd Institutions (HEI) and college students with its learning tools and world-class content in an integrated solution. Previously known as Impartus prior to the acquisition by upGrad, the core feature of the Impartus learning platform is a virtual classroom, wherein a teacher can teach a group of students live and online. Unlike meeting and conferencing solutions, this platform is specifically designed for education – with a deep focus on learner engagement and taking learning beyond classrooms. Impartus CEO Amit Mahensaria is continuing as the CEO of upGrad Campus, as the subsidiary continues to operate independently, targeting the around 37.4 million students that are enrolled in the higher education sector in India (source: MHRD), thus opening up an INR 560 billion market for the edtech leader upGrad. upGrad Campus will have 2 business verticals:
1) B2C: It’ll be offering job-oriented courses in areas of Full Stack Development, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, Business Analytics, and Career Preparation (Soft Skills) to begin with. The course duration is approx. 2 months with a max of four months – and learner would need to devote 10-15 hours a week in that period.
2) B2B: These offerings will be to HigherEd Institutions (HEI). As their B2B SaaS partner, upGrad Campus will enable them to launch for-credit online courses. These will include new-age courses (as mentioned above in point 1) as well as the college’s core courses in engineering, management and others. B2B services will also include providing Technology Platform and Services (course mapping, placements, industry projects, placement services etc.), all with an aim to make college students employable.
To know more, visit: upGrad Campus
About upGrad:
upGrad is South Asia’s largest online higher edtech company offering 100+ courses in collaboration with top-notch global universities like Duke Corporate Education (US), Michigan State University (US), Liverpool John Moores University (UK), Deakin Business School (Australia), Swiss School of Business Management, (Geneva), IIT Madras (India), IIM Kozhikode (India), and others. Founded in 2015, the international edtech leader has impacted over 1 million total registered learners over 50+ countries across the world.
upGrad has ranked No.1 in the LinkedIn Top Startups India 2020 list. This is the third time in a row that upGrad has been featured in the LinkedIn Top Startup list after 2018 and 2019. It is also amongst GSV Global EdTech 50 and has ranked amongst the Top 50 in the FT Asia-Pacific High-Growth Companies 2021.
To know more, visit: upGrad
