upGrad, Asia’s higher EdTech leader, has announced the merger of its subsidiaries, upGrad Campus (originally Impartus), upGrad Jeet (originally The GATE Academy), and upGrad KnowledgeHut (originally KnowledgeHut), to become a global integrated LifeLongLearning Company.
The consolidation will create one parent company in India, driving upGrad’s vision for an integrated strategy to expand and drive transnational learning through 2022. The merged entity would cover the entire gamut of Higher EdTech offerings catering to college learners and working professionals. As an integrated LifeLongLearning Company, the merged entity would support college learners with undergrad degrees, study abroad programs, campus programs, government test preparation courses, and job-linked programs. Whereas, upGrad will support the working professionals with short-form courses, masters programs, doctoral programs, and executive programs.
Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-Founder, upGrad said,
"The merger of all the India entities is to strengthen the corporate structure and consolidate our position as a truly integrated Edtech player and provide a strong foundation for our global strategy. Brand upGrad is built based on the impact we create for our learners lives and the outcomes & ROI we deliver to them. We want the upGrad brand to permeate the full range of our offerings and so the one merged entity makes sense. Our offices in APAC, EMEA & US will continue to operate as independent subsidiaries."
As the three subsidiaries come together to become a full part of a value chain - an integrated LifeLongLearning company, the merger will be visible both at the integrated customer-facing as well as at the tech platform level, said a statement.
The merger will ensure that upGrad, which is at present 2X of any other player in the market, will achieve the goal of being 4X its nearest competitor by the end of 2022, the statement added.
upGrad, started in 2015, is a pioneer in the online education revolution, focused on powering career success for a global workforce of over 1.3 billion. Strengthening its value chain as an integrated LifeLongLearning company, upGrad aims to achieve 7.5 million registered users by 2024 by partnering with over 1298 universities, 3110 corporates, and expanding its network of faculty, mentors, and experts to 11,078. At present, upGrad has over 300 university partnerships with 2 million+ registered users across 50 countries and a robust enterprise business with a client base of 1000 companies worldwide.
The company has recently unveiled its plans of adding 100+ online programs in the next 24 months.
