SapnaOnline Acquires Bookadda, Acadzone & Koolskool

Bangalore based ecommerce arm of multi-retail book store Sapna Book House, SapnaOnline has acquired Ishita Technologies which owns and operates three ecommerce stores – Bookadda, Acadzone and Koolskool for an undisclosed amount.

Ishita Technologies was founded by Arjun Kumar, Mahipal Reddy and Hemant Kohli in 2010 and Bookadda was launched the same year. Acadzone was launched in 2012, and Koolskool was launched earlier this year.

The company had raised funding from Krishnan Ganesh and Mohandas Pai and Ranjan Pai-founded Aarin Capital Partners and early-stage investor Zodius Capital. All investors have exited in this round.

However, the financial terms of the deal has been left undisclosed. At the time of its last fund raise in 2012, Ishita was valued at $13 Mn.

Bookadda currently has retail catalogue of 12.5 Mn book titles and has a strong presence in the north and eastern markets of the country. It currently has over 2 Mn active online customers with revenues of close to INR 13 Cr.

While Acadzone is focused on the delivery of digital content for higher education, and Koolskool is direct supplier of education books to around ten schools.

“This move consolidates our position as the largest vertical player in the book and education space online, in the country,” said Nijesh Shah, founder and CEO Sapna Infoway, the digital arm of the family-run Sapna Book House.

Post-acquisition, the acquired brands will retain their identity.