upGrad will acquire Global Study Partners (GSP), Australia's largest study abroad company, for $16 million and commit a further $10 million for future growth. GSP is slated to close its current financials at a GMV of over $10 million, which will grow fourfold in the coming year.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Sydney, GSP has an institution network of 600+, predominantly in major western destination countries (Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US) and 1,300+ recruitment partners – that include education and migration agents, schools, test preparation centres, alumni associations, etc.

Acquisition of GSP marks the first international acquisition for upGrad and strengthens its foray in Study Abroad, one of the fastest-growing segments worldwide.

“As an Integrated EdTech leader - we span the entire gamut of a learner's need from the age of 18-50 and in that, Study Abroad is a key growth initiative for us - not just out of India, which is one of the two largest markets but also for our learners internationally. GSP coming into upGrad’s fold will be a needle mover for us to attain a headstart in being a global leader in this segment too,” said Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson & Co-Founder, upGrad.

Elaine Starkey, CEO and Founder, Global Study Partners, said “I couldn’t think of a more complementary business that is underpinned by shared principles and ethics “to empower learners throughout the world”. Ronnie and Mayank are true visionaries with a deep understanding of this sector and truly get that “it's all about the learner’s experience”. GSP partners' - institutions and recruitment partners - worldwide, will enjoy the benefits that the additional reach and capacity GSP can now deliver, and they can expect significant growth in quality student enrolments.”

As per Redseer’s report, students opting for Higher Education abroad from India are increasing rapidly, and their growth outpaced the domestic student growth by >6x in the last three years to reach ~770000 in 2019. This is further expected to grow >2x till 2024 to reach ~1.8 million students spending $75-85 billion overseas, as online emerges as the dominant channel for availing these services (particularly due to the growing demand from Tier 2+ cities).

“With 150K students every year, Australia is one of the biggest destination markets for Indian learners. With these two education giants in the key supplier and the demand markets combining forces, we are looking to build a revenue of USD 100Mn in study abroad business in the next 3 years,” Gaurav Kumar, President - Corporate Development and M&A, upGrad.

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