Scaler, a leading and fastest-growing upskilling startup backed by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global, has announced the acquisition of Delhi-based online learning platform Coding Elements in an all-cash deal. This marks the ed-tech startup's first acquisition to accelerate business growth. Scaler has also set aside a sizeable fund of 50 crores to explore other avenues of M&As.
Coding Elements was started in 2017 by Mudit Goel with a vision to create the next generation of coders by training them with the latest in-demand tech skills such as Data Science, Machine Learning, and Full-Stack Web & Mobile App development. The platform also offered coding courses for kids to assess Live class format and opportunities in international markets. Within two years, the Coding Elements team worked with over 4000 students through in-person classroom courses before going entirely online in 2020. It became the highest-rated coding institute in India with a full 5-star rating on Google. NITI Aayog also handpicked the platform to teach coding to 2 Million students across 6,000 schools under Atal Innovation Mission.
With the acquisition of Coding Elements, Scaler aims to bring synergies between the two companies to strengthen further and expand its offering in the professional upskilling space. As a strategic move, Coding Elements has been merged with Scaler, and Mudit Goel has joined the startup as the Strategy and Product Lead. In his role, Mudit will build the Data Science & Machine Learning vertical, a high-growth segment, and will also play a key role in deepening Scaler's relationship with industry partners.
Announcing the acquisition, Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, Scaler & InterviewBit, Said, "I'm excited to announce the acquisition of Coding Elements and delighted to welcome the team to the Scaler family. This acquisition will enable us to further strengthen our upskilling platform by expanding our course offerings beyond core software engineering. As we are journeying to the next growth phase, I'm confident that Coding Element's resources, talent pool, and Mudit's rich experience as an entrepreneur and his deep understanding of the upskilling segment will help us in expanding our offerings and reach. The acquisition is another step towards accelerating our growth and making Scaler a world-class virtual tech university. Further, we continue to assess and evaluate potential M&A opportunities in the segment that matches Scaler's vision and mission".
Mudit Goel, Founder, Coding Elements Said, "Coding Elements was started in 2017 with just 3 students in the first batch as an experiment to understand how high-quality education can help improve the lives of families. Within 4 years, we reached 2 million students across 6000 schools and saw how education can uplift an entire economy. I'm happy to have joined hands with Scaler, which is also on the same mission and am excited to be a part of one of the most dynamic teams in the edtech sector. This strategic merger with Scaler is truly a satisfying moment as it makes our journey bigger and better."
Mudit Goel holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Binghamton University, NY, USA, and has worked with Intuit and LinkedIn before starting Coding Elements. The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India hand picked him for a project to reimagine the higher education ecosystem. Mudit has also been recognised as a 'Global Shaper’ by the World Economic Forum.
Scaler (by InterviewBit) was launched in 2019 as an exclusive upskilling platform for tech enthusiasts and has grown to be a prominent name in the upskilling segment in a very short period. As a testament to its growth, Scaler raised 20 million USD in Series-A Funding led by marquee investors like Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Rocket Internet, among others, in January 2020. The startup also recently made five key leadership appointments to accelerate the business growth and introduced Data Science & Machine Learning programs to expand its offerings. Today, Scaler has over 500 employees and 1000+ mentors /teaching assistants on the platform working towards bridging the tech talent gap in India.
