upGrad, a popular online education company, just got a big chunk of change – $60 million! – from a big investment company called Temasek. This means upGrad is still valued at a whopping $2.25 billion, even though the edtech sector has been a bit shaky lately.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!But that’s not all! upGrad’s founder, Ronnie Screwvala (the guy who started UTV), is stepping up to take more control. He bought out another company’s shares for $20 million, so now he owns almost half of upGrad. This comes after one of the other founders, Mayank Kumar, left the company.
Screwvala seems pretty confident about upGrad’s future. He’s even thinking about making it a public company in the next couple of years. With his experience and Temasek’s backing, upGrad seems to be in a good spot to keep growing.
upGrad’s Big Plans
Earlier this year, upGrad aimed to buy another education company called Udacity. They were trying to raise $100 million for this acquisition. They’re also trying to borrow around INR 287.5 crore (about $34.4 million) to help with their expenses and growth.
What does upGrad do?
Started in 2015, upGrad works with universities to offer online courses and programs to help people learn new skills or advance their careers. They’ve been pretty successful so far, attracting investments from some big names, including Temasek and even Rupert Murdoch’s company.
In Simple Terms:
Imagine upGrad as a rising star student who just got a big scholarship (Temasek’s investment) and a new, experienced tutor (Screwvala). They have big dreams (going public, buying Udacity) and are working hard to achieve them, even though they’re facing some tough exams (losses, competition). It’ll be interesting to see how they do in the coming years!