Brightchamps acquires Singapore-based Schola for $15 Mn

Binny Bansal-backed edtech startup Brightchamps has acquired Schola, Singapore-based communication and English-learning platform, in a cash and stock deal worth $15 million.

The acquisition is in line with Brightchamps’ plan to acquire startups in the edtech space. Recently, the company announced that it had put aside $100 million to make edtech acquisitions across the US, UK, MENA, Southeast Asia, and India in FY23.

Education 10x, which is also based out of Singapore, was the first acquisition for Brightchamps.

The new acquisition will help Brightchamps launch English-speaking and communications verticals, a move that will help scale faster in its key markets such as Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Founded by Aditya Gupta and Nhu Tran Le Thanh, Schola offers a variety of courses in a live, one-on-one class model for kids from 4 to 15 years of age to build capabilities such as communications, public speaking, leadership presentation, and confidence-building. The firm currently offers classes to students from 12 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and others.

Ravi Bhushan-led BrightChamps offers online courses on programming and artificial intelligence for the K12 education segment and is currently operational in 30 foreign countries, including the US, Canada, Nigeria, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

The startup also provides courses on coding, financial literacy, and robotics to kids aged 6-16.

In November 2021, BrightChamps raised $51 million in a financing round valuing the company at around $500 million. It has scooped up $63 million across two funding rounds since its inception.

Like 2021, the ongoing calendar year, too, saw acquisitions in edtech at the same pace even without participation from Byju’s or Unacademy directly. As per Fintrackr’s data, Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad has emerged as the top acquirer of this season with six acquisitions in 2022 so far. Byju’s-owned Great Learning also acquired a couple of startups during the period.