Edtech startup Vedantu acquiring majority stake in Pedagogy

Bengaluru-based edtech startup Vedantu is now acquiring subscription-based test platform Pedagogy, for an undisclosed amount. Through this partnership, The edtech startup is aiming to make Pedagogy's product accessible to its 40 million+ students.

The development comes at a time when Vedantu is in talks to raise $150 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. Earlier, Vedantu had acquired the doubt-solving app Instasolv in February 2020.

Speaking on the development, Vamsi Krishna, Co-founder, and CEO, Vedantu, said, "In line with Vedantu's core mission of ensuring the best learning outcomes for our students, this partnership will provide our students with access to the best, highly interactive books and courses. Pedagogy has tremendous potential and aligns with our vision of making quality learning accessible and affordable to all students across the country."

According to the reports, Both Vedantu and Pedagogy agreed to a share purchase agreement in which Vedantu will be acquiring 100% ownership in Pedagogy in five tranches.

The edtech startup will use its extensive distribution network to increase the number of subscriptions offered by Pedagogy. Pedagogy will likely be rebranded under its brand after some time. In this transaction, there is no upside for any stakeholder. It's more of an acquihire than an acquisition of a startup.

Pedagogy is a subscription-based service that provides online courses and interactive digital books to students preparing for competitive exams. It transforms physical books into interactive content such as chapters, practice questions, mock tests, and so on. Its Netflix-style offering consists of 175 books and courses and is priced at Rs 199 per month.

The current shareholding status of Pedagogy shows that Archin Shah is the company's largest stakeholder, with a 39.22% stake, followed by Nipam Shah and Nita Shah, who have 13.78% and 10.04% stakes, respectively. Other notable shareholders in the company include Ritesh Gandhi, Baldevbhai V Patel, and Dhinal Patel, with just under 15% held by other investors.

Archin Shah, Founder, and CEO, Pedagogy, said "This is a huge win for students on Vedantu, Pedagogy, and our partners. It will also help battle piracy and help propagate the consumption of official content. This is the first step in creating a legitimate and new-age distribution network. Pedagogy aims to be the largest platform to access digital books and is targeting onboard content creators across multiple segments.”

Vedantu, a decade-year-old company, operates on a subscription model that provides users with access to popular books and digital courses from reputable publishers and coaching centers across the country for JEE, NEET, NET, CTET, and other entrance exams.

The platform has 500+ teachers who have taught over 1 million hours to 40,000+ students in 1000+ cities across 30+ countries. Vedantu was founded by IITian friends who have been teachers themselves for over 13 years and have taught over 10,000 students, as per their website.

It is also worth mentioning that Vedantu provides online classes for all major boards and top competitive exams such as JEE and NEET to students in grades K1-12. And this acquisition will enable Vedantu to expand its offering in the competitive exam preparation market.

For the past eighteen months, all of India's top edtech companies have been on an acquisition binge. Although this is Vedantu's second acquisition, competitors Byju's and Unacademy have acquired around a dozen startups since January 2020.

Also Read:

• Kutuki Raises $2.2 Million to Expand Content Library

Follow IndianStartupNews on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter for the latest updates from the startup ecosystem.