Byju’s has made its eighth acquisition this year of an online exam preparation platform called Gradeup, according to a Moneycontrol report. Gradeup will be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep, the report added. The company did not disclose the value of its purchase. Gradeup caters to students preparing for more than 150 exams in 25+ exam categories covering government jobs and postgraduate entrance exams such as IAS, GATE, CAT, Bank PO/Clerk, Defence, UGC-NET, etc. Byju’s has been on an acquisition spree since last year. It has bought entities active in various edtech categories in order to diversify its offerings before it announces plans to go public. Byju Raveendran, in an interview, said that the decacorn startup was planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 12-18 months. The spree signals Byju’s clear intention to list on the bourses as it is standard practice for most companies to augment their portfolio and services before an IPO. What has Byju’s acquired in 2021 so far? The $16.5 billion startup has spent over $2.2 billion in mergers and acquisitions in 2021, as per LiveMint. Some of the key additions include: Aakash Educational Services bought for nearly $1 billion in April this year was the company’s most expensive acquisition to date. The group is a chain of coaching centres with online and offline offerings. This acquisition coupled with Gradeup shows how serious the company is about establishing its footprint in the competitive exams coaching space. Great Learning, led by Mohan Lakhamraju, was acquired for $600 million.…
