Aligned with its ambitious international expansion plans, global edtech leader upGrad has announced it has acquired KnowledgeHut, the leading international edtech company with operations in the GCC.

upGrad has earmarked USD 250 million for mergers and acquisitions to drive non-linear growth for the next seven to nine months. Some of these target companies are based in the MENA region.

With this acquisition, upGrad will have access to KnowledgeHut’s global learner pool of 250,000 students. KnowledgeHut – now rebranded as ‘KnowledgeHut, an upGrad company’, is expected to cross USD 40 million revenue next year, 65% of which will be from countries across the Middle East, North America, and South-East Asia. upGrad recently announced online learning programs for UAE and Saudi professionals that are designed to accelerate careers and grow regional businesses.

With the acquisition of KnowledgeHut, upGrad is venturing into the short duration upskilling and reskilling segment, which has a market potential of over USD 58 billion. KnowledgeHut, an upGrad company, can now offer learners a scalable and immersive learning model, to upskill and help them drive meaningful career outcomes, through its next-gen flagship learning experience platform, PRISM.

Aligned with the high priority given to localization initiatives by GCC countries, KnowledgeHut’s “Skill to Employ” Bootcamp Program helps young, ambitious individuals become industry-ready professionals, ready to take their place in the competitive technology market. With these programs, fresh university graduates (irrespective of their academic background) boost their employability quotient and industry work readiness. KnowledgeHut’s target in GCC is to partner in government localization initiatives to train/enable 100K+ individuals over the next three years and prepare today’s youth for tomorrow’s world.

Announcing the acquisition, Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson & Co-Founder of upGrad, said, “With KnowledgeHut on board, our focus on being an integrated LifeLongLearning partner for powering Career Success for the Global 1 billion workforce just got stronger. KnowledgeHut’s presence in 70+ countries will further upGrad’s ambition of liberalising quality online education around the world.”

Subramanyam Reddy, CEO of KnowledgeHut, an upGrad company, said, “With our focus on short-term professional upskilling, KnowledgeHut is driving outcome-based immersive learning for global technologists and the wider professional community. Given our position in global markets, this synergy with upGrad will further strengthen and support that vision. The acquisition paves the way for upGrad to empower B2B customer segments across geographies including the United States and the Asia Pacific.”