Byju's Acquires California-based Educational Gaming Start-up
The most valuable business in the world is extremely serious about its global expansion plans and this acquisition proves just that!
By Bhavya Kaushal •
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One of the fastest growing Ed-tech firm in India that became a unicorn last year is now in news again. In the past, Byju's has expressed its ambition of global expansion and now with the news of it acquiring Osmo, an American start-up that produces augmented reality games, one can decipher how serious Byju's is about its global plans of expansion. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are a billion-dollar market that has caught the tech world by storm. They are the new-age, digitized version of reality and it is blanketing the world with its convenient and larger-than-life experience.
About the California-based Start-up
Osmo was founded in 2013 by former Google engineers, Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholle. It is an online platform that combines education with playful and interactive means of learning. The entertainment digital portal uses artificial intelligence as a means to make education fun and exciting endeavour.
The new acquisition will help Byju's to enter into the arena of the toddlers' lot seeking education and tutorials in the markets.
With this acquisition, we are expanding into a new age demographic and entering the world of younger kids (age group 3-8). Our partnership with Osmo will help kids acquire a love for learning at an early age by introducing "play-based learning'. Overall, the partnership aims at fostering a love for learning through cutting-edge tech and a new approach to edutainment-based learning", Byju Raveendran, founder of Byju's said in a media statement.
A Good Deal
Byju's bagged the educational games, a digital platform for $120 million. It has proved to be a good wherein both the entities have clinched something concrete and constructive out of the deal. Byju's will be able to seamlessly enter and expand in the international market whereas Osmo will get opportunities to grow and will have the backing of the world's most valuable unicorn.
We started Osmo for parents looking for a way to combine physical, hands-on play with the power of digital platforms to foster a love of learning," said Pramod Sharma, Founder, Osmo said in a media statement.
"Finding a visionary education company like Byju's opened an exciting opportunity to work together to carry forward our mission across all primary school grade levels on a global scale. We are excited about what we can accomplish together," he added.
2019 seems like an exciting year for Indian businesses and start-ups. Byju's meteoric rise has given India one of the most classic examples of successful business stories. A lot is on the table as well. Byju's plans to triple its revenue to Rs 1400 crore in the coming times. The founder became a billionaire when the company became worth $ 3.6 billion after raising a whopping amount of $540 million in the last month of 2018.
