Byju’s on Wednesday said that it has acquired California-based online reading platform Epic, for $500 million in a cash-and-stock deal. The acquisition comes three months after the edtech giant bought brick-and-mortar coaching network Aakash Institute for close to $1 billion to bolster its presence in the test preparation segment in the country.
It’s the second major investment by the edtceh major’s in US after its 2019 acquisition of educational gaming startup Osmo. The effort is part of the company’s plan to invest more than $1 billion in North America, where it annual revenue of $300 million this financial year, cofounder Byju Raveendran told Economic Times. The acquisition helps Byju’s deepen its presence in the US market as well as foray into a fresh segment-online reading.
Epic founders — Kevin Donahue and Suren Markosian — will continue to run the business. Epic has a user base of 50 million kids in the US with a presence across 90% of elementary schools in the country. The facility will soon be available in India and other English-speaking markets such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
“Our partnership with Epic will enable us to create engaging and interactive reading and learning experiences for children globally. Our mission is to fuel curiosity and make students fall in love with learning. Knowing that Epic and its products are rooted in the same mission, it was a natural fit. Together we have the opportunity to create impactful experiences for children to become life-long learners,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s.
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After having raised $1 billion in 2020 from global and domestic investors, the Bengaluru-based startup recently raised a massive $1.5 billion round from UBS Group, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ, Blackstone Group Lp and others. It is currently valued at $16.5 billion.
