upGrad acquires Centum Learning to upskill enterprise workforce

Mumbai, Sep 15

Online higher education platform upGrad on Thursday said it has acquired corporate training solutions provider Centum Learning in a share swap deal. The company did not disclose the deal size.

With this transaction, Bharti Enterprises Limited and its affiliates will join upGrad's cap table.

New Delhi-based Centum with 2,000 employees is likely to clock a revenue of Rs 170 crore in FY23.

Centum's will continue to operate independently under Sanjay Bahl, Managing Director and CEO, the company said in a statement.

"upGrad has always seen enterprise upskilling as a strategic growth driver and we are making some nonlinear movements to reinvent B2B learning in India and create an integrated LifeLongLearning ecosystem for our stakeholders," said Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, upGrad.

Centum has been enabling 360-degree learning solutions right from entry-level professionals to mid-level leaders with direct and measurable business impacts.

With over 3,000 L&D specialists, Centum Learning has trained more than two million people, empowering 400+ corporates across India and Africa.

"Both upGrad and Centum are committed to driving outcomes for their learners and therefore, I am excited about combining the two synergies for creating a scalable portfolio for continued results," said Bahl.

Last month, upGrad raised $210 million (about Rs 1,670 crore) in a round that saw participation from ETS Global, Bodhi Tree, Kaizen Management Advisors and others.

The edtech company said it is on track to record annual gross revenue of $400-500 million during FY23, out of which about 45 per cent of total revenue will be realised from its own-branded online courses and programmes.

Started in 2015, the edtech platform has a learner base of over three million across more than 100 countries, over 300 university partners and a client base of 1,000 companies.

In July, upGrad acquired online learning institution Harappa Education for Rs 300 crore (about $38 million).