BENGALURU: Technology skilling provider KnowledgeHut upGrad, which is a part of edtech unicorn upGrad, is planning to acquire two to three companies in the next three months. It is looking for small companies such as UX skilling firm that is valued at Rs 5 crore.
"We are looking to invest and acquire companies that specialise in a particular field and can scale very fast by integrating it into our platform," Subramanyam Reddy, founder and CEO, KnowledgeHut upGrad, told TNIE.
He said a lot of segments including cloud and cybersecurity have a huge opportunity in the market. Currently, the company is looking at several categories including cloud, project management, finance, Data Science and Blockchain, among other technology-based companies and soft skill providers.
KnowledgeHut was acquired by upGrad in August last year. At the time of acquisition, the company's annual revenue run rate (ARR) stood at around USD10 million. After coming under the upGrad umbrella, it closed the year with revenues of around USD 40 million – around four times.
It is now aiming for USD 150 million ARR by the end of the current financial year. "This will be mainly on account of the new courses and bootcamps as well," he said. From the present employee strength of 500, the company wants to reach 800 by the end of this fiscal.
Soon after the pandemic, many edtech companies forayed into online space, but now due to funding winter, edtech companies are laying off employees and are also restructuring their business models.
Speaking about it, Reddy said they focussed on unbridled growth rather than long-term profitability. There may be a reduction in the amount of funding over the coming months for the start-up space, however consolidation is happening and those companies that have focussed on building a solid business is likely to grow and thrive.
KnowledgeHut is in the professional skilling space. It provides short-duration technology courses for learners. "As technology evolves and we see more and more graduates enter the job market, the need for upskilling will continue to increase," he added.