Edtech unicorn Byju's acquires learning platform Math Adventures

Edtech unicorn Byju’s on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based Math Adventures, a math learning startup. The acquisition is aimed at enhancing and strengthening the product offering for the upcoming lower grade (K-3) learning programmes.

Math Adventures blends hands-on activity with technology that is designed to bring fun into learning. It helps children learn through an innovative combination of friendly, short videos and an activity-based approach using interactive methods.

Commenting on this acquisition, Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, Byju's, in a press statement, said, “Math Adventures’ activities will help us with our K-3 product development. The founder comes with a strong math background along with a research and development background in math activities. At Byju’s, we are continuously innovating to create better and personalised learning experiences for students across grades. This partnership will help us further develop and create engaging learning programs for lower grade students. The Math Adventures team will now be a part of the content and R&D team at Byju’s.”

The Byju’s app creates personalised learning programmes for individual students based on their proficiency levels and capabilities, which help them learn at their own pace and style.

Byju’s claims that the learning app has 22 million registered students and 1.4 million annual paid subscribers. The app also sees an addition of 1.5 million registered students every month. Byju’s has been growing at 100 percent annually since its learning app was launched in 2015, and has a renewal rate of 85 percent from its subscribers.

Recently, in June 2018, it had turned profitable, after crossing Rs 100 crore in monthly revenues.

The company has raised $244 million from investors including Tencent, Chan-Zuckerberg Foundation, Sequoia Capital, and LightSpeed Ventures, among others.

Last year, Byju’s acquired Bengaluru-based edtech startup Vidyartha, which offers customised learning for school students. The company also acquired TutorVista and Edurite from Pearson, the global learning behemoth, which established its India arm in 1998. (TutorVista, the Bengaluru-based online tutoring brand catering to school and college students in the US, had been acquired by Pearson in 2011.) Although the partnership is focused on expanding international reach and creating a diverse product portfolio, Byju’s is yet to venture outside India.