Top Startup Acquisition in India of 2021
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2021 has been a rollercoaster for all of us, but it has been a watershed moment for the Indian startup ecosystem. Since January 2021, 119 merger and acquisition agreements have been completed, compared to 86 for the entire year of 2020. In 2020, this amounted to $1.3 billion in Mergers and Acquisitions; by 2021, the sum had risen to $3.8 billion. These are simply the agreements that have been made public; the bulk of them have not been made public, and their worth might be far more significant. And, given that we're a month away from the end of the year, there's undoubtedly more to come. Here are some of the top startup acquisitions to know about.
Top startup acquisitions in India in 2021
Top startup acquisitions in India in 2021
- Acquisitions by Unacademy
- Scapic acquired by Flipkart
- Spotmentor Technologies acquired by EY India
- Rekrut India acquired by upGrad
- Directly acquired by ClickIndia
- Fleapo acquired by Stritmedia
- Fitternity acquired by Cure.Fit
- Kamatan acquired by Samunnati
- DailyJoy acquired by Lenskart
- GamingMonk acquired by The Mobile Premier League
Top startup acquisitions in India in 2021
Here are listed some of the biggest startup acquisitions of 2021.
Acquisitions by Unacademy
Unacademy is an EdTech firm located in Bengaluru with a network of over 18,000 educators. It provides Live Classes, both free and subscription-based, for various professional and educational admission examinations. Unacademy has been on a buying frenzy recently.
Unacademy has acquired nine companies since 2020, here are some of the top ones:
Kreatryx
Kreatryx, a platform founded in 2014 that provides videos, test series, and a postal tracking tool for GATE, CIL, SSC and ESE examinations, was acquired through a cash and stock deal in March 2020. Kreatryx continues to be run by its founder, Ankit Goyal. Unacademy gained a competitive advantage in the GATE and ESE exam prep markets due to the acquisition.
CodeChef
CodeChef, a platform for computer programming, algorithms, and programming competitions, was founded in 2009, was acquired by Unacedemy in June 2020. The acquisition is expected to aid the Facebook-backed company's development of a coding skills segment for students.
PrepLadder
Unacademy paid $50 million for the acquisition of PrepLadder, a platform founded in 2015 which prepares students for postgraduate medical entrance exams. Unacademy's prominence in the medical entrance examination categories was bolstered as a result of this move.
Mastree
Mastree, founded in 2019, is a K12 learning platform, which mainly focuses on core curricular subjects. It was acquired by Unacedmy for $5 million in July 2020. This acquisition bolstered the company's position in the K12 education market. After a year of ownership, unacedamy shut down Mastree in September 2021. It also launched 'Graphy' in the same line. Users may utilise photos, videos, quizzes, and audio to study books and unique material.
Coursavy
Unacademy acquired Coursavy in September 2020 to improve its position in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations category. Coursavy, founded in 2018, is a platform that offers live lectures, online courses and provides students with handwritten study notes. and comprehensive quizzes.
Scapic acquired by Flipkart
Flipkart bought Augmented Reality (AR) company Scapic in November 2020, intending to make shopping on its platform more engaging. Flipkart did not reveal the financial terms of the acquisition. As part of the transaction, it absorbed the Scapic team.
It's a part of Flipkart's plan to offer more immersive camera experiences, virtual shops, and new ways for brands to advertise on the site.
Jeenal Jain
Spotmentor Technologies acquired by EY India
EY is a leading provider of assurance, consultancy, strategy and transactions, and tax services worldwide. Spotmentor technologies, an end-to-end skilling platform that helps organisations discover skills necessary for the future of work, upskilling, and reskilling employees at scale, was acquired by EY India in November 2020 for an unknown price. It makes use of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning to help organisations address crucial competence gaps.
Rekrut India acquired by upGrad
UpGrad is a Mumbai-based online higher education ed-tech firm that offers data analytics, product management, entrepreneurship, and digital marketing courses. It was named the official education partner for the Startup India learning initiative by the Indian government in September 2016. Rekrut India is a firm that provides recruitment and staffing solutions to help businesses grow their human resources. Rekrut India was acquired by upgrad in December 2020 for an unknown sum. It is the first time that an ed-tech or recruiting business has completed a 100 per cent acquisition.
Rekrut India will continue to function independently following the acquisition.
Directly acquired by ClickIndia
Clickindia is a classified website that makes it simple to find, buy, sell, trade, and communicate with others who share the same interests. Directly. Live is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that enables people and businesses to plan meetings by integrating its platform into their systems and allowing them to hold video conversations with one another. In March 2021, Clickindia bought directly. Live for an undisclosed sum in an all-cash acquisition.
Fleapo acquired by Stritmedia
Stritmedia is a four-year-old Kolkata-based firm that specialises in advertising and news media houses and affiliate marketing.
In December 2020, it paid an unknown sum for Fleapo Pvt Ltd, resulting in the establishment of a new brand called Sinofled Pvt Ltd. Fleapo works in the software and application development industry. Apart from the acquisition, Strirmedia aims to invest about $100,000 in expansion plans, staff building, and the brand's services department.
Abinaya Arangarajan
Fitternity acquired by Cure.Fit
Cure.Fit bought Fitternity, a Bengaluru-based fitness aggregation platform, in February 2021. It's also one of the country's largest fitness facility aggregators. Cure. Fit is a health and fitness firm that provides digital and offline experiences in exercise, nutrition, and mental health.
Fitternity will continue to operate independently, allowing Cure.Fit to expand its Cult Pass offering. Cure.Fit has now acquired Fitternity for the sixth time. Cult was acquired in 2016, followed by Tribe and 1000 Yoga in 2017, Fitness First in 2018, and Onyx in 2021.
Vibhavari Madki
Kamatan acquired by Samunnati
Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services, based in Chennai, which provides financial solutions for the agricultural sector, announced on April 12th, 2021, that it had acquired farmer-centric Agri supply chain platform Kamatan Farm Tech, an agricultural-technology startup focusing on the farming logistics and supply chain segment. After agri-tech firms LivLush and Sabziwala, Kamatan was created.
Elevar Equity, an impact venture capital firm, financed both and combined their firms in March 2020.
According to a statement from Samunnati, the acquisition would enhance the company's market connection outreach activities. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), small merchants, and agro SMEs would interact with corporate customers through the new company.
DailyJoy acquired by Lenskart
In April 2021, Lenskart, a Delhi-based eyeglasses firm that joined the unicorn club last year, bought DailyJoy, a food and necessities delivery business in Tier 1/2 cities like Lucknow and Hyderabad, to strengthen its technological stack and technical capacity.
The acquisition is only to bolster the Acquiree's team strength and exploit its technological knowledge. To assist its expansion, Lenskart wants to make Hyderabad a centre for high-quality, consistent engineering.
GamingMonk acquired by The Mobile Premier League
MPL is an esports and skill gaming platform based out of Bengaluru. In April 2021, it acquired GamingMonk, a Delhi-based esports broadcasting platform that conducts esports competitions on various platforms, including mobile, console, and PC. The competitors include FIFA, Counter-Strike, and Call of Duty, and they are all streamed. MPL has absorbed the whole GamingMonk crew.
FAQs
What is startup acquisition?
Startup acquisition is the process of buying a successful or evolving startup company that has gained grip in the market.
What are the different types of acquisitions?
There are 4 types of Acquisition:
- Horizontal Acquisition
- Vertical Acquisition
- Conglomerate Acquisition
- Congeneric Acquisition
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