Bodhi Tree Systems has announced a $600 million investment and strategic partnership with 34-year old education company ALLEN Career Institute, based out of Kota, Rajasthan.
The announcement comes days after a similar release indicating Bodhi Tree’s $1.78 billion investment in Reliance Viacom18.
Founded by Rajesh Maheshwari in 1988, ALLEN Career Institute is a test prep brand that aids engineering and medical students in college entrance examinations. According to the press release, the company has helped 2.5 million students over the course of its lifetime, and has a strong record of selections in exams such as IIT JEE Mains & Advanced, NEET-UG, KVPY, and the Olympiads.
Talking about the deal, Maheshwari said, “We have helped create hundreds of thousands of doctors and engineers, who contribute to building India and the society of today. Our partnership with Bodhi Tree is an essential ingredient in furthering our mission to significantly increase ALLEN’s reach and impact.”
Bodhi Tree Systems is a newly formed platform between James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, the ex-president of Disney APAC, as well as former chairman of Star and Disney India. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Systems.
Speaking about ALLEN, Murdoch and Shankar said, “We believe that education is on the cusp of a technology led renaissance that will fundamentally alter how education is imparted and will increase its efficacy. ALLEN’s unrivaled success and scale provide the right foundation to build the digital education company of the future.”
