UpGrad Sets Aside $250M For Global Online Education Acquisitions

India-based online education provider UpGrad is counting on the continued appetite of people around the world to learn from their couches with $250 million set aside for acquisitions across Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam that will expand its global footprint.

The company will “target digital learning providers with mentors and coaches as well as immersive short-form learning startups in markets,” the firm said in a Wednesday (July 7) news release, per Bloomberg. UpGrad promised to announce two acquisitions within the next 60 days.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.2 billion children around the world used online learning to stay connected to their classrooms. Even before the coronavirus began its spread across the U.S. and around the world, the global market for online learning services was projected to grow 28.6 percent by 2023, reaching $133 billion that year.

That spike reflects people’s increased willingness to subscribe to their education these days in an era where monthly payments have become the norm for just about everything from streaming entertainment to smartphone service plans.

UpGrad, which specializes in higher education and upskilling courses, is nearing $4 billion in valuation, according to some Indian newspapers. That’s up seven times from April, when it first got external funds, raising $160 million from Singapore-based Temasek Holdings Pte and IFC Corp, according to Bloomberg.

Mumbai-based UpGrad said more than two-thirds of working professionals in India utilize one or more of its professional online education course offerings.

The company is aiming for “an integrated, connected model in higher education across multiple geographies,” said founder Ronnie Screwvala in the release.

UpGrad said its target customers are “the world’s more than 1 billion knowledge workers and 250 million higher education enrollees.” It offers more than 100 courses, which have been accessed by more than 1 million users in more than 50 countries.