Screwvala strengthens focus on 1 billion workforce globally
Asia’s higher EdTech major with European headquartered in London, upGrad has acquired the global EdTech company KnowledgeHut. This comes within weeks of upGrad earmarking US$250 million for Mergers & Acquisitions to drive non-linear growth for the next seven to nine months.
Announcing the acquisition, upGrad Chairperson & Co-Founder Ronnie Screwvala said on 3 Aug 2021, “With KnowledgeHut on board, our focus on being an integrated LifeLongLearning partner for powering Career Success for the Global 1 billion workforce just got stronger. KnowledgeHut’s presence in 70+ countries will further upGrad’s ambition of democratising quality online education around the world.”
Post-acquisition, KnowledgeHut will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of upGrad. Subramanyam Reddy, Founder & Director, KnowledgeHut will be at the helm in his new role as the CEO.
Subramanyam Reddy, who founded KnowledgeHut in 2011, elaborated, “With our focus on short-term professional upskilling, KnowledgeHut is driving outcome-based immersive learning for global technologists and the wider professional community. Given our position in global markets, this synergy with upGrad will further strengthen and support that vision. The acquisition paves the way for upGrad to empower B2B customer segments across geographies including Europe, the United States and the Asia Pacific region.”
With this acquisition, upGrad will have access to KnowledgeHut’s global learner pool of 250,000. KnowledgeHut, as an upGrad company know, is expected to cross US$40 million revenue next year, 65% of which will be from countries across North America, the Middle East and South-East Asia.
KnowledgeHut is a global edtech company, aimed at equipping the global workforce with the skills of the future through outcome-based immersive learning. As a leading skills solutions provider, KnowledgeHut has trained over 250,000 professionals and empowered over 500 enterprises to build the skills that drive results, with a product offering of over 200 courses across in-demand areas of Web Development, Machine Learning / AI and Data Science, Agile and Project Management, IT Service Management, Cyber Security and Cloud Computing.
In Europe, 1,000+ companies access the KnowledgeHut platform including brands like Coca Cola, Accenture, Siemens, and many more. The likes of DHL and Vodafone are UK-specific customers too.
With KnowledgeHut in its folder, upGrad is venturing into the short duration upskilling and reskilling segment which has a market potential of over US$58 billion. To leverage this market opportunity, the combined might will allow KnowledgeHut – now rebranded as ‘KnowledgeHut, an upGrad company’ – to offer learners a scalable and immersive learning model, to upskill and help them drive meaningful career outcomes, through its next-gen flagship learning experience platform, PRISM.
A pioneer in the online education revolution, upGrad is changing the lives of millions for the better by “Powering career success for every member of the global workforce as their trusted lifelong learning partner”. Co-founded by one of the world’s most impactful entrepreneurs, Ronnie Screwvala along with Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli, upGrad has impacted over 1 million total registered learners over 50+ countries. #technology #investment #banking #acquisition /fiinews.com
