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Coaching Institute Aakash acquires Applect Learning for $14.5 Million

7Jan By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Coaching Institute Aakash acquires Applect Learning for $14.5 Million

Entrance test preparation services provider Aakash Educational Services Ltd has acquired ed-tech company Applect Learning Systems for around $14.5 million (Rs 100 crore). The company has entered into a definitive agreement with Info Edge (India) Ltd and other selling shareholders to acquire ALSPL, which offers learning programmes under the brand name 'Meritnation' catering to students of class I to XII, AESL said in a statement. When asked about the value of the deal, a company official said, 'it is around $14.5 million (Rs 100 crore) for the entire stake.' In October last year, Blackstone had picked up a 37.5 percent stake in Aakash Educational Services for Rs 1,350 crore and announced the intention to create a digitally enabled, omnichannel test preparation company. 'As part of ...

Springboard Raises USD 11 mn from Reach Capital, Others

17Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Springboard Raises USD 11 mn from Reach Capital, Others

San Francisco-based Springboard, a leading online learning platform for workforce upskilling has raised USD 11 million (over Rs 78 crore) in funding led by Reach Capital. The post-series A financing round also saw participation by Pearson Ventures, International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as returning investors Costanoa Ventures, Learn Capital, and Blue Fog Capital. The company, which has so far raised USD 20 million in funding, has also partnered with Microsoft to train and place 5,000 students into analytics jobs over the next three years through its new Data Analytics Career Track. "Working professionals have to significantly upskill or re-skill every 3-5 years to advance in their careers. Our industry-designed programmes combined with in-depth, 1-on-1 mentorship and ca...

8Oct By AdityaNo Comments

Tech

Amazon Announces New Kindle For Kids

SEATTLE, Oct. 8, 2019- Amazon announced the inclusion of the new Kindle Kids Edition. Now children can access and enjoy premium, kid-friendly content using tablet. “We build kids products from the ground up with three ideas in mind. first, kids want a device experience designed just for them; second, parents don’t want to worry about the content their kids are viewing and third, parents want tools they can trust to help manage their kids’ device usage," said Kurt Beidler, Director of Kids and Family, Amazon. Kindle Kids Edition is a new reading experience designed just for kids now young readers can leave the heavy books at home and carry a library full of books (plus a dictionary!) on one lightweight device. And like all Kindle devices, it offers a sanctuary reading experie...

Google Acquires Socratic, Launched iOS app

19Aug By AdityaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Google Acquires Socratic, Launched iOS app

Socratic, an AI-based mobile learning app acquired by Google. The official announcement was made by the Socratic founder on his blog. A mail to Google by Pixr8 news has not been answered until publishing the article. After a quiet acquisition, Google has launched the iOS version of the Socratic today. AI technology based app to help high school and university students when they’re doing schoolwork outside the classroom. It guides them through the resources that are available online and identifies the core underlying concepts that will lead them to answers to their questions. Students can take a photo of a question or use their voice to ask a question, and the app will find the most relevant resources from across the web. If they’re struggling to understand textbook content ...

8Jul By Ankita SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Board Infinity raises $320k funding from Angel Investors

New Delhi, 8th July 2019: Board Infinity, an Ed-Tech Startup raises $320k (Rs 2.2 crores) in an angel funding from a group of angel investors. Founded in 2017 by Abhay Gupta and Sumesh Nair, Board Infinity provides short skilling courses delivered by industry experts in live classes format across emerging technologies, management roles. The startup will use the funds to improving the technology platform and expand its current learner base in Tier 2-3 cities. Angel investors who invested in Board Infinity includes Mr. Ambarish Raghuvanshi Ex-CFO of Infoedge; Maheshwer Peri - Founder of Careers360; Vishal Soni & Ritu Soni - Founders of a Health & Wellness startup; Manish Gupta, Founder of UINCEPT- EdTech accelerator; Nirmal Singh, MD of Atraxn Ventures and founder of Wheebox ; S...

26Jun By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Unacademy Raises $50 Million in Series D Funding

Bengaluru, June 26th, 2019 : Unacademy, India’s largest learning platform, closes of its $50 million Series D funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, and Blume Ventures. Aakrit Vaish (Co-Founder & CEO, Haptik) and Sujeet Kumar (Co-Founder & CEO, Udaan) also participated in the round, along with Unacademy Founders, Gaurav Munjal, and Roman Saini. Speaking to Pixr8 News, Co-founder and CEO Unacademy, Gaurav Munjal said, “We have more than 400 top educators from across the country taking live classes every day on Unacademy Plus. This is available to every student, irrespective of their location. By leveraging technology and high-quality educators, we aim to move closer to our mission of democratising education at all levels, starting with ...

27Feb By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Maths Testing App iChamp Raises 5 Million Seed Funding

iChamp, an online Math Learning and Testing App had raised seed funding of Rs 5 Million by friends and family. The app was launched on the Google Play store with more than 2500 active users. iChamp, short for “India Champ”, is an interactive mobile application for kids of Classes 1-8 to test and practice their mathematics skill. Founded by Mohit Bansal, IIM-A Alumnus and Ex-Director VidyaMandir Classes brings on board his experience in the test prep business with this revolutionary ed-tech app that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to adjust to various skills and modules. iChamp is a Free learning app, that allows students to Take LIVE Tests, against other students, as well as practice tests individually across various topics of Mathematics. Students can also be...

Coursera Partners With AXA to Bring World-Class Learning Into The Workplace

19Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Coursera Partners With AXA to Bring World-Class Learning Into The Workplace

Coursera, a leader in online education and learning,has recently entered into a global partnership with AXA, the worldwide leader in insurance. AXA will adopt Coursera’s enterprise platform, Coursera for Business—which enables employers to draw on high-quality online learning content created by 150 top universities—to address their rapidly-evolving workforce development needs. As part of the strategic upskilling effort, Coursera will work with AXA to curate relevant content and integrate Coursera courses into existing learning paths with a goal to further equip the global workforce with the knowledge and in demand skills required to succeed in tomorrow's workplace and economy. “We’re honored to partner with a forward-thinking organization like AXA as they innovate on their Learning ...

EdCast Acquires Content AI Start-up Sociative

24Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

EdCast Acquires Content AI Start-up Sociative

EdCast, the leading Knowledge Cloud platform for unified discovery and personalized learning, today announced the acquisition of Corte Madera-based Sociative, Inc. Founded in 2010, Sociative has developed highly focused content-discovery technology, using topical influencers, personalization and machine learning. Sociative founders Michael Tolson and Brad DeGraf are pioneers in the development of algorithmic inference technology for making sense of the real-time Web. "We are thrilled about joining forces with EdCast, given its mission and innovative technology that has been embraced by leading Fortune 500 companies worldwide," said Michael Tolson, Co-founder & CTO of Sociative, Inc. "We are looking forward to fully integrating our machine learning technology, which has gained so mu...

Rajasthan Partners With Cisco For Connected Learning Solution

5Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Rajasthan Partners With Cisco For Connected Learning Solution

Rajasthan education department has partnered with US-based technology firm Cisco to promote digital learning across the state using virtual digital room solutions. "This initiative aims to enhance the quality of education through digital learning for academia to connect, collaborate, create and share content across 12 centres of State Institute for Education Management and Training (SIEMAT) in the state," Cisco said in a statement. The financial details of the partnership were, however, not disclosed. Under this association, Cisco and SIEMAT have committed to 50,000 manhours of training annually through the virtual digital classrooms. Cisco has partnered with the Rajasthan government to establish Digital Learning Solution Rooms (DLSRs) which will deploy virtual digital classroo...

Online Education Platform Coursera Focussing on Tie-Up With Indian Enterprises

27Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Online Education Platform Coursera Focussing on Tie-Up With Indian Enterprises

Online education firm Coursera is focussing on partnering Indian enterprises for corporate learning solutions as part of its efforts to expand its presence in the country. Coursera, which counts India as its third largest learner market after the US and China, has 1.3 million users here. Globally, it has a user base of 19 million learners. "India is a priority market for us in 2016 and we are making significant push here. We are building features into the product specific to local needs," Coursera Senior Advisor Nikhil Sinha said. He added that the company is also in discussion with various Indian educational institutions for offering courses through its platform to global users. Sinha said the aim is to be a tool that people use for both "educational benefits and career ...

Naspers Invests $60 Million in Online-Learning Startup Udemy

3Jun By NitishNo Comments

FUNDING

Naspers Invests $60 Million in Online-Learning Startup Udemy

Udemy, a global marketplace for learning and teaching online, today announced a strategic investment of $60 million from Naspers through its Naspers Ventures division. Larry Illg, CEO of Naspers Ventures, is joining Udemy’s Board of Directors. Udemy plans to use the new capital to continue its strong international momentum, including growing its localized course content library and product offerings to meet the global demand for online learning. The investment is a follow-on to Udemy’s $65 million Series D round of financing from June of 2015. Over the past year, Udemy has experienced significant growth, particularly among its international business. With more than 40,000 courses now available in 80 different languages, Udemy offers the largest selection of online course content. ...