Competition
Temasek to pick up minority stake in Alibaba-backed edtech firmedit
VC Circle – Online Web
Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings is set to invest $30 million in online tutorial platform Lido Learning, possibly its first bet in the edtech space in India, a person privy to the development told VCCircle. Temasek is likely to pick up a 30% stake in the company at a valuation of $100 million, the person said, adding that the transaction involves only a primary component. It is also said to be the edtech firm’s Series C financing.
WhiteHat Jr expands product portfolio, launches Create with Math curriculumedit
The Financial Express – Online Web
Edtech platform WhiteHat Jr on Thursday said it has expanded its portfolio with the launch of ‘Create with Math’ curriculum, marking the company’s foray into new subjects apart from its mainstay coding training offering. At WhiteHat Jr, our core philosophy has always been to empower the next generation to become creators rather than consumers by channelizing their natural creativity with an engaging curriculum and personalized live 1:1 teacher attention, WhiteHat Jr founder and CEO Karan Bajaj said in a statement.
Kid App Creators From WhiteHat Jr Leave R Madhavan Awestruck As They Share Their Coding Experienceedit
Daily Hunt – Online Web
EdTech startup WhiteHat Jr’s students Manya, Agastya, and Yuvraj recently interacted with celebrated actor R Madhavan to share their thoughts and motivation, which led them to create the apps PicKaboo, Pat a Pet, and Med Maze, respectively.
Freshworks, Eka founders to launch earlystage fundedit
Live Mint – Online Web
Gireesh Mathrubootham and Manav Garg, founders of Freshworks Inc. and Eka Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd, are set to jointly start a fund christened ‘Together’ that will invest in early-stage startups in the business-to-business (B2B) enterprise software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) space, three people aware of the development said. Together is also going to be backed by Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal, ChargeBees Krish Subramanian as well as Fusion Charts Pallav Nadhani, and a slew of other prominent SaaS founders, people mentioned above said. Mint couldn’t independently verify this information.
Byju’s acquires Mumbai-based doubt clearing platform Scholredit
Entrackr – Online Web
Edtech major Byju’s is on an acquisition spree. Even as it is in the last leg to acquire Aakash Institute and SAIF Partners-backed Toppr, the company has acquired another edtech startup. According to three people aware of the details of the transaction, Byju’s has acquired Scholr in an allcash deal.
Edtech firms on a buying spree amid COVID19edit
CNBC TV18 – Online Web
In August 2020, Byju’s, India’s largest edtech startup acquired WhiteHat Jr, a Mumbai-based online coding school for young kids, for Rs 2,223 crore. The Bengaluru-based edtech firm spent this fortune to add a new vertical to its already robust business.
Industry
A NEAT solution: Partnering private sector for online education bodes welledit
Financial Express – Online Web
The immense appetite in India for online courses run by foreign providers/universities has as much to do with the high-quality content from such providers as with the limited domestic-market options—thanks to the government waking up to the need to promote digital education only after the Covid-19 pandemic. Realizing that it may take time for universities to develop their courses, content and tools, as also the fact that government’s SWAYAM and NPTEL portal for massive open online courses haven’t been as popular, UGC and AICTE are trying forge partnerships with ed-tech companies to collaborate on courses and online teaching.
Around 59% Indian students depend on edtech apps for exam preparations: Surveyedit
Education World – Online Web
Around 59% Indian students depend on edtech apps for exam preparations: Survey As the exams are drawing closer, about 58.9 percent of the Indian students are using edtech platforms for their preparations, finds the latest Brainly survey.