Amazon enters the test preparation market, BYJU'S is in talks for a billion dollar acquisition, and Facebook-backed Unacademy raises more funds – a big day in India's edtech

• India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25.
• And to have a piece of the pie, the biggest players are scrambling for customers, acquisitions and moolah.
• Here’s how just one day in India’s edtech sector panned out.

India is home to the world’s most valued edtech startup and has a burgeoning list of unicorns from the sector. Even Indian venture capitalists believe that it’s a sector to watch out for in 2021. And if that were not enough, the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos is eyeing the edtech segment in India, apart from his already bullish e-commerce giant Amazon.

According to a report by PGA Labs and IVCA, India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25. And to have a piece of the pie, the biggest players are scrambling for customers, acquisitions and moolah.

Here’s how just one day (January 13) in India’s edtech sector panned out

Amazon enters the test preparation market with Amazon Academy

The global e-commerce giant has made an entry into the edtech segment with the test preparation market. It launched Amazon Academy to help students prepare for the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) to gain admission to engineering colleges. Amazon will offer learning material, live lessons as well as comprehensive assessments.

“Amazon Academy aims to bring high quality, affordable education to all, starting with those preparing for engineering entrance examinations. Our mission is to help students achieve their outcomes while also empowering educators and content partners reach millions of students. Our primary focus has been on content quality, deep learning analytics and student experience. This launch will help engineering aspirants prepare better and achieve the winning edge in JEE,” said Amol Gurwara, Director, Education at Amazon India.

BYJU’S billion dollar acquisition

The $12 billion BYJU’S is set to acquire the brick and mortar preparatory services institute Aakash Educational Services for a whopping $1 billion. If the deal goes through, it will become one of the biggest edtech deals in the world.

While BYJU'S declined to comment on the matter, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) confirmed that it is in talks with Byju's for building a strong partnership. "Putting these speculations to rest, we would like to state that AESL is on a mission to build India's largest digitally-enabled, omni-channel education company. We will accelerate our digital transformation and deliver phenomenal value to our students. We will rapidly expand our omni channel & digital offerings, as we embark on the next trajectory of quality education & growth," said the company.

Unacademy gets another $50 million

Another Indian edtech unicorn Unacademy has closed a secondary transaction worth $50 million. The deal saw Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadview Capital, and General Atlantic increase their stake in the company by acquiring additional shares worth $50 million from previous investors.

The startup had raised an undisclosed amount of funding in November, which valued the company at over $2 billion.

In September, the five-year old startup had entered the unicorn club with a $150 million cheque from SoftBank. Unacademy had also raised funding from Facebook in February, the social media giant’s second direct investment in India.

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