Facebook- and SoftBank-backed edtech major Unacademy said Thursday it has acquired test preparation startup Coursavy for an undisclosed amount. This is Unacademy’s fourth acquisition this year.
Unacademy said the acquisition would help it bolster its position in the government and civil services test preparation market.
More than a million Indians take the Civil Services Examination (CSE) every year to get a government administrative job. The online test prep market in this segment is expected to increase by CAGR of 39% between 2020-24.
“As we grow and strengthen our position as the leader in the test prep market, bringing Coursavy on board will play a strategic role for Unacademy in the UPSC CSE examination category,” said Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder and CEO, Unacademy Group.
Started in 2019 by a former Unacademy employee Vimal Singh Rathore, Coursavy claims to have more than 70,000 users who prepare for the civil services exam through its online classes on YouTube and on its own platform where it hosts live classes as well.
Post-acquisition, Coursavy teachers, including Rathore, will teach on Unacademy and will also mentor existing educators on enhancing discipline amongst aspirants. The content from Coursavy will assist Unacademy educators in their live classes, Unacademy said in a statement.
“At Coursavy we have created a 360-degree ecosystem where content, teachers, students, live interactions and query resolution are connected in a daily discipline — empowering students to focus on their studies with a trust that all issues will be resolved by the educator,” Vimal Singh Rathore, CEO, Coursavy.
Unacademy said it has over 20,000 tutors and more than 30 million learners on its platform. The company, among other online education companies, has seen huge growth this year owing to learners turning toward online education platforms during a pandemic-induced national lockdown. Unacademy quadrupled its paid subscriber base in September to 350,000 compared to February, according to a Bloomberg report.
The five-year-old company entered in the K-12 space in April to directly compete with the category leader Byju’s. This year, it managed to raise funds from high profile funds and companies such as Facebook, General Atlantic, and SoftBank among others. In its latest round of USD 150 million led by SoftBank, Unacademy’s valuation tripled to USD 1.45 billion in less than six months.
Unacademy is not the only startup in India that is on a shopping spree hoping to cash in on the current edtech hype. Byju’s, one of its archrivals, has made two deals earlier this year with the acquisitions of WhiteHat Jr. an edtech startup that teaches coding to kids, and US-based Osmo that creates educational games for children. In addition, the firm is also in talks with DoubtNut, a math problem-solving platform for a potential buyout.