upGrad, an online higher education company, on Tuesday said it has acquired The Gate Academy (TGA) for an undisclosed amount, a move that will help the company establish its presence in the Rs 40,000 crore test preparation market in the country.
upGrad also plans to invest over Rs 100 crore into the test preparation business and will develop over 20,000 hours of content in multiple languages to provide access to at least one million test-takers annually.
Bengaluru-based TGA operates 57 coaching centres across the country and has had 76 million video hours consumed by its almost two lakh-enrolled learners for GATE and other entrance tests for various public/government sector jobs.
upGrad Co-founders Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, in a joint statement, said the acquisition of TGA provides upGrad a non-linear growth opportunity in a new segment entry, and deeper penetration in the semi-urban and rural markets.
"...(This) is in line with our core vision of making Bharat employable by adopting the mantra of lifelong learning. With every strategic move, we are ensuring that upGrad leads from the front as India emerges as the teaching capital of the world," they said.
The company cited industry data to state that just the government exam prep market sees around 40 million applicants every year spending in a range of Rs 10,000.
This opens a new Rs 40,000 crore market for the company, it added.
Post the acquisition, TGA will operate as a subsidiary of upGrad and will continue with its brand name.
TGA founder Ritesh Raushan will take on the role of CEO of the subsidiary to build this business line with upGrad providing its proprietary online learning solution and tools as well as sales, marketing, and content.
"upGrad also plans to invest over Rs 100 crore into this test preparation subsidiary and will be developing over 20,000 hours of content in multiple languages to provide access to at least one million test-takers annually," the statement said.
Arjun Mohan, CEO - India at upGrad, said in the coming months, the company plans to add over 100 new programmes with top national and international universities, coupled with other acquisitions in the higher education space.
upGrad provides online programmes in the areas of data science, technology, management, and law. These programmes are designed and delivered in collaboration with universities like IIT Madras, IIIT Bangalore, MICA, BIMTECH, NMIMS Global Access, Jindal Global Law School, Duke CE, Deakin University, Liverpool John Moores University and others.
