In an attempt to gain access to the Indian market, Moodle, an Australian learning and management platform, has acquired Hyderabad-based eAbyas Info Solutions. The company plans to launch its operations in India in 2023 and has already created a motion plan for this.
“Moodle is planning to grow the Indian arm to the 400-member team in the next two years to cater to their product development and support our global offerings,” the company said in a statement.
Through this development, Moodle will attempt to build direct relations with local customers. The acquisition will also help to strengthen its global networks and develop customised products.
eAbyas will move to a new website and restructure its go-to-market strategy.
“Many institutions around India are already part of the Moodle community, while many others are still exploring how to bring the flexibility of online learning into their practice,” Martin Dougiamas, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Moodle said.
“…eAbyas team has strong expertise in providing learning solutions to institutes and corporations. With this acquisition, we look forward to extending Moodle LMS services to a wide Indian eLearning market, and contributing to Moodle’s global development and services,” added Sushil Karampuri, founder and CEO of eAbyas.
KT Rama Rao, the IT and Industries Minister of Telangana, welcomed the deal and congratulated eAbyas for the acquisition. He said, “Given the recent uptake in online learning and increasing internet access in India, this entry will provide an opportunity for an open edtech platform like Moodle to play a key role in transforming India’s digital learning,”
The Indian edtech sector is currently going through a rough patch. Several highly-valued unicorns including Byju’s and Unacademy have been in the news for firing their staff. Moreover, edtech companies are struggling to get funds at the elevated valuation they had witnessed last year.
At the same time, mergers and acquisitions have become a continuous reality in the Indian start-up ecosystem. In the edtech space, Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad acquired Wolves India, Harappa Education, Exampur and Centum Learning. Last month, Vedantu acquired Deeksha in a $40 million deal.