Hardeep Singh
EdTech; A New Revolution in the era of education and technology
Online learning is gaining popularity among students. Above all, this blip on the radar is increasing children’s and parents’ trust in educational technology. In the long run, the current situation will impact EdTech by increasing its acceptance as a viable alternative to currently existing offline options.EdTech is classified into sectors, such as K12, which is further divided into two sections. Kindergarten through seventh grade, and eighth through twelfth grade; and, last but not least, test preparation and upscaling (vocational training). Within these fields, Gradeup concentrates on the Test preparation portion of the industry. The test preparation industry employs 35 million students. Gradeup is a big player in the market, with over 20 million students registered.
With the basic notion that “people prepare better when they prepare together,” Gradeup focuses on developing exam-specific communities that are focused and targeted toward candidates. It is India’s first and only online community of professional mentors and students, where aspirants may ask questions, submit updates, and interact with mentors and peers to get a 360-degree view of any topic in the most engaging way possible.
Introduction to Gradeup
Gradeup is India’s largest online competitive exam preparation platform, with over 20 million test takers. They’ve made exam preparation more successful by connecting students with others with similar goals to stimulate note exchange, reduce concerns, and make better informed judgments through Live classes and emphasising an organised strategy, i.e., a daily study regimen.
BYJU’s, an edtech decacorn, revealed in September that it has acquired Gradeup, an online exam preparation platform, for an unknown sum. It’s worth noting that this is the edtech unicorn’s sixth acquisition of the year.
BYJU’s Gradeup will be renamed BYJU’s Test Prep, and will serve students studying for over 150 tests in 25 categories, including IAS, GATE, CAT, Bank PO/Clerk, Defense, UGC-NET, and other government employment and PG entrance exams. The partnership will boost BYJU’s position in the fast growing online competitive test preparation sector, as well as utilise Gradeup’s pedagogy and student reach, according to a press release.
Establishment of Gradeup
Gradeup was established in 2015 with the intention of becoming India’s largest and most comprehensive online competitive exam preparation destination. Its purpose is to help students actively prepare for tests and improve their test scores. They have built and cultivated incredibly engaging exam-specific communities of students and mentors for SSC, Banking, Railways, Teaching, JEE, GATE, NEET, UPSC, Defense, and State level examinations.It collaborated with major publishers and institutes at the time to mobilise their material and make it available to students preparing for competitive examinations online and on mobile devices. This was plainly insufficient, as it concentrated on using content in an online format. As a result, the learning process lacked the necessary degree of involvement and was therefore ineffective in terms of enhancing learning outcomes. To assist the hopefuls, stronger guidance and preparation were necessary.The popularity of online learning among Indians of all ages has grown in tandem with the rapid growth of internet and smartphone users. Take the following example: you have a stack of notes, audio lectures, and other reference materials.
The three Co- Founders of the platform
Gradeup was founded by Shobhit Bhatnagar, Vibhu Bhushan, and Sanjeev Kumar. Gradeup was bought by the Edtech behemoth Byju’s on September 7, 2021. The rebranded version of the Noida-based online test preparation organisation is known as Byju’s Test Prep. Continue reading to find out more about Gradeup’s success storey, including its revenue, company model, funding, growth, turnover, and products.Shobhit Bhatnagar, Gradeup’s CEO, is in charge of marketing and community development. He graduated from Punjab Engineering College with a B.E. in Information Technology and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. He has worked in the sector for almost nine years. He worked as a consultant for Ernst & Young and Opera Solutions before joining Gradeup. Shobhit is an avid reader and traveller who used to be a college quizzer.
Product and Operations are overseen by Vibhu Bhushan, Gradeup’s CPO/COO. Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology awarded him a B.E. in Information Technology. He’s been in the business for more than a decade now and has gained long ang through understanding. Prior to joining Gradeup, he worked at Yahoo, Infoedge, and was a co-founder of Floost, a Nogle Technologies interest-based network. He was a marathon runner in the past and has a keen interest in sports. Vibhu has worked with mobile and backend technology for over 7.5 years. Sanjeev Kumar is Gradeup’s Chief Technology Officer. Sanjeev is a professional engineer who graduated from MBM Engineering College in Jodhpur with a B.Tech. Prior to joining Gradeup, he worked for Infosys as a System Engineer.
The team realised that by focusing on learning objectives, they might make a significant contribution to this area and a student’s planned itinerary. As a consequence, the authors felt compelled to fix the issue and fill in the gaps so that online preparation might be more effective than previously.
Highlights of the platform
Gradeup is a service that is available for free. The software and website can help anyone studying for a competitive exam. They may join the community and communicate with other students and mentors to obtain answers to their queries, as well as get access to study materials such as previous year’s papers, quizzes, and other tools. All information is provided without charge.Applicants may also use the platform’s premium services to augment their preparation, such as a) Green card- Purchase of Test Series and b) Classroom- Live Classes.
Conclusion
BYJU is one of the most active edtech organisations in the country and beyond when it comes to acquisitions. The edtech decacorn will have spent more than $2 billion on mergers and acquisitions by 2021. In August, it purchased Whodat, a computer vision and augmented reality company.
BYJU’s other major acquisitions include Aakash Educational Services (for an estimated $1 billion), Great Learning (for $600 million), Toppr (for $150 million), and US-based Epic (for $500 million). It has acquired smaller businesses like HashLearn and Scholr. Following Gradeup’s rebranding, it’s worth looking at what newness BYJU’s brings to the table.
