Byju's acquires TutorVista and Edurite from Pearson
Through this acquisition Bengaluru-based Byju's gets a foothold in the online tutorial market in the US
Byju Raveendran, founder of edtech startup Byju'sImage: Bmaximage
Bengaluru-based edutech company Byju’s has acquired the online education ventures of TutorVista and Edurite from the world’s biggest learning company Pearson, for an undisclosed sum.
With this acquisition, Byju’s, which is valued at about $670 million, gets a foothold into the lucrative online tutorial market in the US, which accounts for 70 percent of TutorVista’s business. The acquisition also marks an early exit by Pearson from TutorVista, after having forked out $213 million in 2013 to buy the company from serial entrepreneurs K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.
TutorVista’s online tutorial platform connects students with about 2,000 teachers across India, United States, UK, Australia, China and South East Asia. To date, the company has served over 5 million online tutorial sessions to students worldwide.
On the other hand India-focused Edurite, which was bought by TutorVista in 2007, offers a range of self-paced learning CDs, EduriteScoreMore, that have been modelled on the cognitive learning approach. Its products cater to content for CBSE, ICSE and various State Boards in India.
“This partnership will enhance our product offerings and give us access in some of the new markets when we launch our international products. We are excited to work with the talented and experienced team who will come onboard as a part of this acquisition,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s in an emailed statement on Monday night.
With 8 million users and 400,000 annual paid subscribers, Byju’s learning app creates personalized learning programs for students from classes 4 to 12. Based on their proficiency levels and capabilities, the app helps students to learn at their own pace and style.
“With increased brand awareness, our core offering - Byju’s The Learning App has witnessed massive adoption amongst students across grades (classes 4-12). We strongly believe that a product like ours can change the way students learn all across the world,” said Raveendran. “Today, with a wider bandwidth, we have started creating similar products for the international markets that further boost our reach as well as product portfolio.”
Commenting on the deal Deepak Mehrotra, MD, Pearson India said, “Edurite and TutorVista are pioneer brands in their respective spaces and enjoy great customer goodwill. We are pleased that a leading online education company in India sees value in the Edurite and TutorVista businesses, brands and employees.”
To date, Byju’s has raised over $150 million in venture funding from a diverse set of investors some of who include Sequoia Capital, Mark Zuckerberg’s The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the International Finance Corporation, among others.
With this acquisition, Byju’s, which is valued at about $670 million, gets a foothold into the lucrative online tutorial market in the US, which accounts for 70 percent of TutorVista’s business. The acquisition also marks an early exit by Pearson from TutorVista, after having forked out $213 million in 2013 to buy the company from serial entrepreneurs K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.
TutorVista’s online tutorial platform connects students with about 2,000 teachers across India, United States, UK, Australia, China and South East Asia. To date, the company has served over 5 million online tutorial sessions to students worldwide.
On the other hand India-focused Edurite, which was bought by TutorVista in 2007, offers a range of self-paced learning CDs, EduriteScoreMore, that have been modelled on the cognitive learning approach. Its products cater to content for CBSE, ICSE and various State Boards in India.
“This partnership will enhance our product offerings and give us access in some of the new markets when we launch our international products. We are excited to work with the talented and experienced team who will come onboard as a part of this acquisition,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s in an emailed statement on Monday night.
With 8 million users and 400,000 annual paid subscribers, Byju’s learning app creates personalized learning programs for students from classes 4 to 12. Based on their proficiency levels and capabilities, the app helps students to learn at their own pace and style.
“With increased brand awareness, our core offering - Byju’s The Learning App has witnessed massive adoption amongst students across grades (classes 4-12). We strongly believe that a product like ours can change the way students learn all across the world,” said Raveendran. “Today, with a wider bandwidth, we have started creating similar products for the international markets that further boost our reach as well as product portfolio.”
Commenting on the deal Deepak Mehrotra, MD, Pearson India said, “Edurite and TutorVista are pioneer brands in their respective spaces and enjoy great customer goodwill. We are pleased that a leading online education company in India sees value in the Edurite and TutorVista businesses, brands and employees.”
To date, Byju’s has raised over $150 million in venture funding from a diverse set of investors some of who include Sequoia Capital, Mark Zuckerberg’s The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the International Finance Corporation, among others.
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