Byju’s acquires WhiteHat Jr for $300 mn

Education technology firm Byju’s has acquired WhiteHat Jr, a startup focused on imparting coding skills to kids, for $300 million (about ₹2,240 crore).

Byju’s, which is valued at $8 billion to kids as per an independent report, said coding is fast emerging as a key skill for the future and the acquisition will help it expand offerings in the US and India.

The new education policy also stresses on teaching coding skills from early classes, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The 2018-incorporated WhiteHat has a revenue of $150 million.

Sources pegged the deal amount at $300 million.

Byju’s will make significant investments in WhiteHat’s technology platform and product innovation, while expanding the teacher base to cater to demand from new markets, the statement said.

Karan Bajaj, the target company’s founder, will continue to lead and scale this business in India and the US.

“Technology is at the centre of every human interaction today and we had set out to create a coding curriculum that was being delivered live and connected students and teachers like never before.

“Integration with a visionary company such as Byju’S will help take this idea to new heights and help unleash the remarkable creative potential of kids at a global scale,” Bajaj said.

“WhiteHat Jr’s coding product capabilities, combined with our pedagogy, expertise and scale, will help expand our learning offerings for school students,” Byju’s founder and chief executive Byju Raveendran said.

WhiteHat had recently announced its plans to expand to other global markets like Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand after a stellar growth in the US for its one-to-one online coding classes.

After launching its courses in the US, since February this year the company is growing at more than 100 per cent month-on-month, it added.

Byju’s doubled its revenue to ₹2,800 crore in FY20 and has clocked a revenue of ₹500 crore in July alone, as per the statement.