Edtech BrightChamp eyes M&As for growth

Bengaluru: Edtech startup BrightChamps is planning to close mergers and acquisitions worth $100 million through stock and cash deals in the ongoing fiscal year (FY23), cofounder and chief executive Ravi Bhushan told ET.

The acquisitions will likely be across India, the United States, the UK, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“We have already done a couple of acquisitions like Education 10X, and it is performing very well. This gave us more confidence to double down on our acquisitions,” Bhushan said. “We are in the final stages of discussion with a tech startup here in India and will be closing the deal soon.”

He, however, declined to share details of potential deals. The market opportunity, he said, is ‘much bigger’ than anticipated.

BrightChamps acquired Education 10X in February in a stock and cash deal. The financial terms were not disclosed.

The investment for acquisitions will be in phases, Bhushan added.

“We are going aggressive on this (inorganic expansion) and if the same market situation prevails, we are looking to spend this money in two-three quarters from now,” he said.

Founded in 2020 by Bhushan, an IIT-Varanasi graduate, BrightChamps offers online courses on programming, artificial intelligence, design thinking and financial literacy to kids aged 6-16 years.

It is currently operational in more than 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Nigeria.

The edtech startup has raised $63 million since inception. Its investors include Premji Invest, the investment office of

founder-chairman Azim Premji, edtech-focused investor GSV Ventures, Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital and Singapore-based venture fund Beenext.

In November, it had an annual revenue run rate of $10 million.

Bhushan declined to share the company’s latest financials.

While most of its business are from outside India, the startup is looking to acquire edtech firms here in the life-skill vertical, product-led distribution platform and other areas.

Recently, the firm also launched RoboChamps, its robotics vertical that is working on teaching life skills learning at a reduced cost, Bhushan said.

“We can make this ambitious plan only because we are very prudent on cash burn and other costs. We have deep pockets,” Bhushan said, on raising capital amid a slowdown in big-ticket funding.

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