upGrad acquires edtech platform Harappa Education for Rs 300 crore

New Delhi: Higher education platform upGrad on Friday announced it has acquired online learning institution Harappa Education for Rs 300 crore (about $38 million). upGrad closed the transaction with present Harappa shareholders - Bodhi Tree Systems (a newly-formed platform between James Murdoch and Uday Shankar) and Co-Founders Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh. Harappa Education is likely to clock Rs 75 crore in revenue this year.

"A combination of upskilling courses along with these critical skills that Harappa has to offer would set us apart. We see strong demand from our clients and with Harappa coming in, we believe we'll be able to grow exponentially within the segment as we cross-leverage the synergies," said Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, Co-founders of upGrad. (Also Read: MAJOR hiring in Amazon India -- Check location and job details)

Co-founded by Sinha, also the Founding Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Harappa Education offers self-paced courses to address the spiraling problem of poor employability, inadequate leadership, and an ill-equipped workforce. Harappa has an active clientele of 100 mid and large-sized organisations. (Also Read: Joe Gebbia, who founded Airbnb 14 years ago, steps down; will remain on board)

"As a combined force, Harappa and upGrad will anchor our purpose and conviction to create a truly wholesome learning ecosystem for lifelong learners in India and abroad, with our time-tested pedagogy, flagship programs, and rich partnerships to guarantee unmatched outcomes for our learners and clients," said Sinha and Singh, Founders of Harappa.

upGrad has a learner base of over 3 million across over 100 countries and more than 300 University partners, along with an enterprise business with a client base of 1000 companies worldwide. Earlier this month, upGrad Rekrut, a 100 percent subsidiary of online higher education platform major upGrad, announced it has acquired recruitment and staffing firm Wolves India, for an undisclosed sum.