Byju Raveendran, Founder of Byju’s (Hemant Mishra/Mint via Getty Images)Led by Byju Raveendran, Bengaluru-based ed-tech startup Byju's is set to acquire private Aakash Educational Services, which owns and operates more than 200 physical tutoring centres across the country, for $1 billion, reports Tech Crunch.
The deal would translate into doubling of the Aakash Educational Services' valuation since late 2019 when Blackstone had acquired a 37.5 per cent of the company's shares at a valuation of about $500 million.
Founded in 1988, Aakash Educational Services operates more than 200 physical tutoring centres nationwide and serves more than 2,50,000 students preparing for admissions to top engineering and medical colleges in the country.
Meanwhile, Byju's, which is valued at $11 billion, is touted as the world's most valuable ed-tech startup. In the last two years alone, the startup has raised $800 million. Also, the company turned profitable in 2019 itself and presently serves over 70 million students as of late 2020.
Before the Aakash Education Services' acquisition, Byju's had last year also acquired coding platform WhiteHat Jr in a $300 million deal.
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