Schoolnet India Ltd, a Noida-based ed-tech company that provides digital and digitally-led education services to schools and students, has ‘acqui-hired’ NextSteps AI, a Hyderabad-based deep-tech start-up incubated at T-Hub.

Acqui-hiring is a term used to describe an acquisition that is aimed at acquiring the talent in the target company. Through this acquisition, Schoolnet will get 15 employees with niche skills. The 25-year-old ed-tech company, which has not raised any funds so far, has about 300 employees.

Schoolnet has a presence in 40,000 schools, covering over 15 million learners.

“Playing an integral part in the digital and deep-tech capabilities of Schoolnet, Next Steps has been working with Schoolnet since its inception in 2016,” RCM Reddy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Schoolnet, said.

Geneo platform

“This acqui-hiring will further help us sharpen our offerings and expand at a faster pace. The Next Steps team has also been integral in the development of the Geneo platform - Schoolnet’s K12 learning app-based ecosystem, to enhance the learning outcomes of students in the middle and the bottom of the pyramid.

“As we sharpen digital transformation of our K12 business as two primary and synchronised offerings - Geneo School (digital classroom solution for in-school learning) and Geneo (for seamless after-school learning), we have decided to integrate the Next Steps team within Schoolnet to strengthen our deep-tech capability,” he said.

Geneo, a flexible and affordable online learning platform, is available both in-school and after-school formats.

“It uses the digitised version of the textbook, to which plethora of multi-sensory learning content is mapped to promote high engagement and application,” he said.

It is supported by continuous assessments to help identify a child’s current learning state and provide a unique learning path, which is curated by an artificial intelligence algorithm.

It is currently available for classes VI-X in English and Hindi for CBSE, and in Bengali for West Bengal Board students.

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