Bengaluru, Aug 2 Edtech major upGrad has announced a 100 per cent merger of Noida-based test-prep company Exampur for an undisclosed amount.

BusinessLine has reported in May 2022 that upGrad was in advance talks to acquire Exampur for an estimated deal value of ₹100 crore to ₹250 crore, according to three sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In a company townhall on May 19, upGrad has asked some employees in its test prep vertical, upGrad Jeet, to shift from Bangalore to Noida as the deal neared completion.

Exampur user base

Exampur said it is looking to close revenue of ₹60 crore ($7.5 million) this fiscal. Co-founded in 2018 by Vivek Kumar and Vardan Gandhi, the Noida-based learning platform has a user base of over 10 million students and offers over 200 test-prep courses for government jobs where most of the content is delivered through its 27+ YouTube channels including ones for the UPSC, SSC, Defence, Banking, Teaching, and other State-level Government job preparations.

Cumulatively, Exampur has a subscriber base of over 12 million with an average viewership of 2.5 million students. 90 per cent of paid users of Exampur are said to be from tier II, III and IV markets. An industry source told BusinessLine that Noida-based Exampur has been on the lookout for an acquisition deal since 2021, due to a lack of funds. On the other hand, upGrad Jeet has been looking for ways to grow its user base organically, which is something companies like Exampur, Adda247, and Physicswallah have been able to achieve.

“We’ve created an integrated learning portfolio for our learners and within that matrix, we see test-prep as a high potential growth driver. It comes with a high customer acquisition cost (CAC), but it also delivers higher returns in terms of outcomes. Therefore, we wanted a partner with the right set of DNA within this space and Exampur seamlessly fits into our LifeLongLearning jigsaw. Both, Vivek, and Vardan come with an extremely defined goal of becoming the enablers than just providing a content library and their day-on-day live delivery capabilities with 200+ teachers through its channel are set to redefine vernacular learning for a larger base of youth across Bharat,” said Gaurav Kumar, President - Corporate Development, upGrad. 

  Commenting on the development, Vivek and Vardan, Co-founders, Exampur in a joint statement said, “It’s undeniable that the number of educated candidates in India is growing exponentially yet they are unemployed. It is also being supported by the pandemic-related disruptions, geopolitical situations, and rising inflation that are negatively hitting the employment elasticity within the country. Hence, we want our learners to walk that extra mile to understand the key to cracking such competitive exams and this is where we have created a hybrid learning model through our digital presence. We have strong leadership support through upGrad who have already built a business which is set to outlast its peers and shall accelerate our growth in the coming times. We look forward to making Exampur a household name and with upGrad, we see it reaching there really fast.”

Earlier the edtech unicorn had also acquired companies like Impartus Innovations, KnowledgeHut, Talentedge, Work Better Training, and Global Study Partners, among others. The most recent ​​one is the acquisition of a data science institute, the International School of Engineering (Insofe) in a $33 million share swap deal.

upGrad’s revenue

In financial year 2021, upGrad filed a consolidated revenue of ₹302.26 crore, and net loss of ₹211 crore. The January-March quarter of FY 22 was profitable for upGrad and the company had expected to bring down its losses to ₹150 crore in FY 22. upGrad was valued at $1.2 billion in August 2021, when it raised a $185 million funding round from Temasek Holdings, International Finance Corp, and IIFL Group.  

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