B2B Edtech Startup Uolo Acquires Online Learning Platform Tekie

B2B edtech startup Uolo has acquired online learning platform Tekie for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will help Uolo offer affordable learning programs to school students.

The development has come almost a month after Uolo raised $22.5 Mn in Series A funding round led by VC fund Winter Capital. Blume Ventures and Morphosis Venture Capital also participated in the funding round. 

Set up in 2013 by Pallav Pandey, Ankur Pandey and Siddharth P. Singh, the edtech startup offers online courses in coding and English speaking. It partners with private schools and helps them develop online capabilities.

“We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Tekie, one of the finest coding platforms developed for school students in India. Uolo will introduce the Tekie program in schools that are already using its school management platform,” said Pallav Pandey, cofounder and CEO of Uolo. 

The startup said its cost-free mobile app enables communication between school and parents. Through its app, schools offer hybrid learning programs to students. 

Uolo claimed that it has partnered with more than 8500 schools and 35 Lakh students across the nation. 

Founded in 2017, Tekie is an edtech startup that offers online coding courses to students. It educates students via animated storytelling and practise sessions in computer labs.

Explaining the business model, the Bengaluru-based startup shared that it teaches HTML, Java, and Python programming to school students with the help of relevant technology. It also lets students learn with new-age tech tools such as Figma and Canvas, among others and further introduces them to  artificial intelligence and blockchain.

“Tekie team’s sense of purpose around building a world-class coding curriculum for schools is unparalleled and we look forward to working closely with them. We believe that the acquisition of Tekie furthers our mission to take modern, high-quality edtech programs to the masses,” Pandey added.

In India, Uolo faces competition from Eupheus Learning and Teachmint, among others. 

According to an In42 report, India’s edtech sector is the worst-hit segment in FY2023 owing to various factors such as market downtrend, opening of schools and colleges, low investor sentiments and global disruption. 

As a aftermath of these factors, edtech startups took drastic decisions such as downsizing their businesses, laying off more than 7,500 full-time and contracted employees so far in 2022.

On the other hand, edtech startups–Lido Learning, Crejo.Fun, Udayy, Qin1, SuperLearn–could not survive the funding winter and ceased their operations permanently in 2022.