Edtech companies see record buyouts this year

Edtech and e-health startups are on an acquisition spree as stronger companies attempt to fill gaps in portfolios or try to gain scale amid a surge in demand for remote learning and treatment options. Year to date, there have been 13 buyouts and funding rounds worth $954 million in edtech startups, compared to nine buyouts and investments of $520 million in 2019, according to data sourced from researcher Tracxn Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Healthtech saw four acquisitions and funding rounds totaling $300 million, in the year to date period, according to Tracxn data. Unacademy bought PrepLadder, a postgraduate medical entrance exam preparation platform for $50 million in July, as it looks to strengthen its presence in medical entrance examination categories. While Unacademy raised $110 million at a valuation of more than $500 million earlier this year, Byju’s has raised $500 million this year at a valuation of $10.5 billion and is in talks to raise another $400 million from DST Global. Much like e-commerce marketplaces, dominated by the duopoly of Flipkart and Amazon, a spate of mergers and acquisitions in both e-health and edtech may see the rise of a few, strong companies.