Asia’s largest integrated higher edtech major upGrad has announced a 100% merger of New Delhi-based online learning platform Harappa Education at a value of $38 million (Rs 300 crore). 

upGrad closed this transaction with present Harappa shareholders - Bodhi Tree Systems, (a newly formed platform between James Murdoch & Uday Shankar) and co-founders Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh. All of them join the upGrad Cap table, the company said in a statement. 

Co-founded by Pramath Raj Sinha, also the founding dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the Founder Trustee of Ashoka University, and Shreyasi Singh, ex-editor of India Inc, Harappa offers self-paced courses to address the spiralling problem of poor employability, inadequate leadership and an ill-equipped workforce. The online learning institution has an active clientele of 100 mid-large sized organisations.

“Similar to the integrated approach that we have been able to achieve in the B2C segment, we intend to offer a complete suite of products to our enterprise partners. A combination of upskilling courses along with these critical skills that Harappa has to offer would set us apart. We see strong demand from our clients and with Harappa coming in, we believe we'll be able to grow exponentially within the segment as we cross-leverage the synergies. Pramath and Shreyasi come with a strong business legacy, which in turn, further fuels our ambition of becoming the global edtech leader,” said Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, co-founders of upGrad.

 “Consolidations get like-minded entrepreneurs together to build powerful, inspired formations. We are delighted to expand on the immense potential of our unique curriculum of social, cognitive and behavioral skills, with Ronnie and Mayank, who have created such an exciting global company. As a combined force, Harappa and upGrad will anchor our purpose and conviction to create a truly wholesome learning ecosystem for lifelong learners in India and abroad, with our time-tested pedagogy, flagship programs and rich partnerships to guarantee unmatched outcomes for our learners and clients,” added Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh, founders of Harappa Education.

EY acted as the advisor for Harappa on the transaction.