Byju’s has acquired the Austria-headquartered startup GeoGebra, the latest in a series of purchases by the Indian edtech giant this year as it scales its online learning platform across the globe.
Neither of the firms disclosed the purchase price, but a source familiar with the matter said the deal size is about $100 million and includes both cash and stock. Byju’s declined to comment.
Eight-year-old GeoGebra operates an interactive and collaborative mathematics learning tool and reaches over 100 million students across more than 195 countries and territories. The platform offers its service to both enterprises as well as philanthropic nonprofit organisations, the latter of which accesses GeoGebra at no charge. Byju’s said GeoGebra’s current apps and web services will continue to be available for free after the acquisition.
“GeoGebra was born out of a passion to help students learn math in a visually appealing and engaging manner. Our shared passion for learning and teaching resonates with BYJU’S, making them a perfect partner for our onward journey. I am confident that this partnership will help millions of students learn mathematics in an interactive way, in turn making them overcome their fear of math and learn to master it,” said Markus Hohenwarter, co-founder of GeoGebra, in a statement.
Byju’s said the GeoGebra acquisition “complements” its product strategy. The most valuable Indian startup will integrate GeoGebra’s offerings with its products to make “math more engaging” for its students.
“The GeoGebra team has built a powerful and stimulating platform that complements BYJU’S mission of providing impactful learning for students. Designed to improve mathematical understanding, it offers significant features that provide interactive resources that adapt to every child’s style and pace of learning,” said Anita Kishore, chief strategy officer of Byju’s, in a statement.
“At Byju’s, with the help of innovative teaching and technology, we have been making Math fun, visual, and engaging. And with GeoGebra on board, we will continue to further enhance, reimagine and transform the way Math is taught and learned. Together with our combined strengths, we will have a wider reach and the best resources to build innovative and exciting next-generation learning formats,” she added.
GeoGebra is the latest in a series of about 10 purchases Byju’s has made this year as it looks to fill the whitespaces in its offerings. The Bangalore-headquartered startup has this year acquired Tynker, Scholr, Aakash Institute, Hashlearn, Epic, Great Learning and Gradeup, among others, for over $2 billion in cash and equity deals.
Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of Byju’s, told TC in an earlier interview that the firm is still looking for more merger and acquisition opportunities. In the meantime, Byju’s is also exploring an initial public offering as soon as next year. TC first reported that some bankers, including Morgan Stanley, have pitched a $50 billion valuation to Byju’s.
