Azent Overseas Education Ltd, an online ed-tech startup founded by Hexaware Technologies Ltd founder Atul Nishar, has acquired Admission Table, an artificial intelligence-based platform for foreign university selections and admissions counselling.
The acquisition is in line with Azent’s larger plan to invest up to Rs 250 crore (approximately $34.82 million at current exchange rates) in technological capabilities, services, acquisitions and infrastructure.
Mumbai-based Azent did not disclose the financial details of the acquisition, Mint reported. VCCircle has reached out to the firm and will update this report accordingly.
Nishar said that the acquisition enables the company to expand its reach beyond Tier-I cities and establish a pan-India presence. “We plan to acquire three companies in the education counselling space in the next three years,” he said.
Bengaluru-based Admission Table, which was founded in 2013 by Manish Katyan, uses AI, chatbots and machine learning tools in tandem with human counsellors to help students with university shortlisting and admissions process.
Azent, meanwhile, says it aspires to be a trusted overseas education counselling services provider. Its services include personalised counselling, admission and application assistance, test preparation, visa processing and pre-departure assistance for successful candidates.
Deals in the ed-tech segment
The online learning and education-technology segment has attracted considerable investor interest of late.
The valuation of ed-tech firm Byju’s crossed $5 billion after it raised $31.3 million in a funding round in March led by existing investors General Atlantic and Tencent Holdings Ltd. In December last year, Byju’s announced that it had secured $540 million (Rs 3,855 crore then) in a round led by South African tech conglomerate Naspers.
Last month, Info Edge (India) Ltd, which owns and operates portals such as job site Naukri.com, said it invested Rs 7.06 crore (a little less than $1 million) in Adda247, a test preparation platform for government and public-sector exams.
In August, Vedantu Innovations Pvt. Ltd raised $42 million (Rs 300 crore) in a Series C funding round led by US-based investment firm Tiger Global Management and private equity firm WestBridge Capital. That month, AdmitKard raised $1 million (around Rs 7.15 crore) from a clutch of investors including Australia-based ed-tech fund Growth DNA.
