Paytm buys Edukart

Payment service provider Paytm (One97 Communications Ltd) has bought education technology start-up Edukart, backed by cricketer Yuvraj Singh and Paytm founder after it failed to raise new funds. The purchase, whose value wasn’t disclosed, is a so called acquihire – or buying out a company primarily for the skills and expertise of its staff.

Edukart aggregated courses offered by other education technology startups such as Byju’s, Simplilearn, Edureka and Toppr, coaching institutes such as Aakash Institute, Vidyamandir Classes and Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Annamalai University, National Institute of Management and Technology and University of Mysore among others.

The company raised $2 Million in three rounds from Kima Ventures, AKM Systems, Stanford Alumni, Paytm’s Sharma, WaterBridge Ventures, Yuvraj Singh YouWeCan Ventures, early stage fund 500 startups, angel United Finsec, the family office of hologram maker Holostik Group. According to industry expert, while Edukart startups may boast of a large user base, they might struggle to make users pay for the content.

Since 2015, Paytm has either invested in or bought at least five firms. It has bought consumer behavior prediction and recommendation platform Shifu and home services provider Near.in, apart from investing in online auto-rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo, logistics data start-up LogiNext and deal discovery app Little.