Veranda acquires Edureka for Rs 245 Cr

Veranda Learning Solutions on Thursday said it has acquired Edureka, a live-instructor-led online solutions provider for the IT industry, for Rs 245 crore.

Veranda, in a statement, said, it is planning an outlay of around $100 million for acquisitions over the next six months to "seize the opportunities opening up in the edtech space".

The acquisition of Edureka is the second buyout by the company since its launch in December 2020.

Veranda had acquired Chennai Race Coaching Institute, a coaching institute for Banking, SSC and PSC exams. The company has also launched programmes for CA and IAS aspirants this quarter, the statement said.

The edtech space has seen strong growth globally, including in India, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point. Many offline classes went online to ensure continuity of education while adhering to social distancing norms.

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Founded in 2011 by Lovleen Bhatia and Kapil Tyagi, Edureka offers upskilling programmes for working professionals. The startup partners with premier Indian institutes like IITs, NITs and prominent international universities like Purdue to offer training in cloud computing, DevOps, AI/ML, data science, web development, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies in addition to its library of training resources.

It currently claims to be having more than one lakh subscribed learners who are trained by an over 500-strong instructor pool with a bouquet of around 300-course offerings.

Veranda is in active discussion with multiple targets for acquisition to create a multi-modal platform that spans test prep, upskilling and supplemental education.

For me personally, getting back into software education is exciting and sets the stage for us to again do our part in meeting the rising demand for high-end skills in the country, Veranda Learning Solutions Executive Chairman Kalpathi Suresh said.

With the current acquisition, Veranda is poised to expand its footprint in Europe and the North American markets as well, Suresh added.

Veranda is a comprehensive 360-degree online education platform. It is building a unique online platform that will combine the best of technology, processes and methodologies to deliver high-quality content. Focused on academic outcomes for its students, it adopts a multi-modal delivery system backed by a rigorous and disciplined learning framework.