upGrad to invest additional $40M in Harappa Education
The investment is aimed at creating a suite of programmes under Leadership School, targeted at mid-career working professionals in India and abroad.
After acquiring New Delhi-based platform for leadership and communication skills program Education earlier this year, edtech unicorn has committed to investing an additional Rs 320 crore (nearly $40 million) in the platform to create Harappa Global School of Leadership.
The latest announcement will help upGrad strengthen its soft-skill and leadership offering for working professionals.
According to a statement by the company, the capital will be utilised by Harappa Education to develop a suite of leadership programmes catering to different sectors and leadership levels. The company also plans to hire people for designing the program, planning and developing pedagogy and content for the programme and for marketing it.
“Initially it will be open for individuals to sign up in a business to consumer (B2C) model in India. We plan on launching the Leadership School globally with a focus on the mature and paying market in the US, in six months’ time. We will take a business to business (B2B) approach for the US market,” Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-founder at upGrad, told YourStory.
Starting with the Accelerated Management Program, the Leadership School will offer live-only programmes targeted at mid-career professionals. Other courses to follow suit as part of the Leadership School include Design Leadership program and Women’s Leadership Program.
“Just as HR and marketing became a part of core MBA programme over time, our course on Accelerated Management Program includes data, product marketing, and leadership as part of its core offerings,” Pramath Raj Sinha told YourStory.
He added that the digital model for offering the courses also offered flexibility to cater to a particular cohort as part of its B2B offerings targeted at a company and to offer high -quality accessible modules as part of the Leadership School.
Pramath Raj Sinha founded Harappa Education with co-founder Shreyasi Singh in 2018. The platform offered self-paced courses to address problems of poor employability and inadequate leadership.
upGrad announced the acquisition of Harappa Education in July 2022, at a valuation of $38 million. Harapaa Education’s shareholders, including Bodhi Tree Systems, joined upGrad’s cap table as part of the deal. In August 2022, upGrad announced raising an additional $210 million from ETS Global, Bodhi Tree, Kaizen Management Advisors and family offices of Bharti Airtel, Narotam Sekhsaria and Lakshmi Mittal’s Artian Investments, along with returning investors.
Founded in 2015 by Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, and Phalgun Kompalli, upGrad offers upskilling courses at the undergraduate level, campus and job-guarantee programmes, study abroad and short courses. The company has made 13 acquisitions thus far across the verticals and continues to scout for M&A targets.
Edited by Megha Reddy