- Simplilearn acquired US based bootcamp education company Fullstack Academy.
- The value of the transaction was not disclosed by the company.
Simplilearn, an upskilling edtech platform, has acquired Fullstack Academy, a US-based bootcamp education company, as it seeks to expand in North America.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed by the company.
Simplilearn acquired Fullstack from publicly traded US edtech Zovio Inc, which has been attempting to dissolve the company for several months. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September, Zovio stated that it was looking to sell Fullstack for $34-$55 million.
Simplilearn, which acquired Market Motive, an online marketing course provider, in 2015, raised $45 million in new funding earlier this month from a group of investors led by GSV Ventures. The funding round was also attended by its limited partners (LPs).
Simplilearn’s founder and CEO, Krishna Kumar, stated that the capital would be used to grow inorganically and add competencies in assessment, as well as to strengthen its presence in international geographies such as the United Kingdom.
In July of last year, global buyout firm Blackstone agreed to pay $250 million for a majority stake in Simplilearn. Simplilearn has added more than 120,000 paid B2C learners and another 100,000 enterprise learners to its platform since then.
“We are constantly looking for acquisitions and Blackstone being an acquisitive fund is open to inorganic bets,” Kumar told ET. “However, when we look at acquisitions it has to have strong competency and add more value. In Fullstack’s case we get scale and add competencies through newer university partnerships. The company’s scale, while being profitable, complements our business as well.”
Fullstack Academy is expected to clock $30 million in revenue by the end of its fiscal year in December. The company has been clocking $3.5 million in monthly revenue, Kumar added.
Simplilearn is also expected to launch new courses on its platform in collaboration with US universities as a result of the acquisition.
Fullstack Academy, founded in 2012, provides web development, cybersecurity, data analytics, DevOps, and product management boot camps to students in the United States. Simplilearn will gain access to over 300 employees and 19 new universities in the United States as a result of the Fullstack acquisition. It has trained nearly 7,000 people to date.
Simplilearn previously employed 20 people and had nine university partnerships in the United States.
The acquisition comes as Simplilearn aims to generate Rs 1,000 crore in revenue and become profitable by FY24.
Its losses increased to Rs 150 crore in FY22, up from Rs 5.6 crore the previous year.
Overall revenue increased from Rs 340.8 crore in FY21 to Rs 480 crore in FY22.
“Usually, the fourth quarter is the biggest quarter and we are on track to touch our target of Rs 1,000 crore with the Simplilearn business. We are at roughly Rs 800 crore of revenue and with the Fullstack acquisition, our revenues will touch Rs 1100 crore in FY23,” Kumar said.
At present, Kumar said Simplilearn is clocking Rs 70 crore in monthly revenue.
