Byju’s acquires WhiteHat Jr for $300 million, aims to tap the US market

Byju’s on Thursday announced acquiring WhiteHat Jr for $300 million in an all-cash deal.

The ed-tech company hopes the acquisition will help push its US expansion plans. WhiteHat Jr. Founder, Karan Bajaj will continue to lead the business in India and the US.

Following the acquisition, Byju’s said it will make “significant investment” in WhiteHat Jr, a popular school-learning application which provides courses on coding.

“WhiteHat Jr is the leader in the live online coding space. Karan has proven his mettle as an exceptional founder and the credit goes to him and his team for creating coding programs that are loved by kids. Under his leadership the company has achieved phenomenal growth in India and the US in a short span of time.” said Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, BYJU’S.

“We started WhiteHat Jr. to make kids creators instead of consumers of technology,” explains Karan Bajaj, Founder, WhiteHat Jr. “Technology is at the centre of every human interaction today and we had set out to create a coding curriculum that was being delivered live and connected students and teachers like never before. Integration with a visionary company such as BYJU’S will help take this idea to new heights and help unleash the remarkable creative potential of kids at a global scale.”

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Byju’s has become one of the top ed-tech platforms in the country since its launch in 2015. The company says its platform has 64 million students, 4.2 million paid subscribers, and 85% of annual renewal rate. The company also doubled its revenue from ₹1,430 crore to ₹2,800 crore in the fiscal year 2019-20.

The biggest push, however, has come during the Covid-19 lockdown as remote working became new normal. During the lockdown, it has added 15 million new students. Last month, it registered ₹500 crore in revenues.

That said, WhiteHat Jr. is relatively a new player. Based in Mumbai, the 18-month-old company has raised funding from the likes of Omidyar Network, Owl Ventures and Nexus Venture Partner, reports Techcrunch.