Toprankers Buys Judiciary Vertical Of Coaching Institute Coach Up IAS

Edtech startup Toprankers has acquired the judiciary arm of Lucknow-based Coach Up IAS, an institute which provides coaching to civil services exam aspirants.

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

With this buyout, Toprankers aims to boost its offerings and cater to the growing needs of judiciary aspirants in Lucknow and adjoining areas, the startup said in a statement.

Post this acquisition, Coach Up IAS has been renamed as Judiciary Gold by Toprankers.

Toprankers’ cofounder and CEO Gaurav Goel said, “This acquisition is perfectly aligned with our vision of providing top-notch education and guidance to judiciary aspirants across the country. With Coach Up IAS on board, we are confident that we will jointly create a transformative learning experience for our students.”

Coach Up IAS, founded by Ashutosh Srivastava, offers examination preparation assistance to civil services aspirants. Through this acquisition, the institute will benefit from enhanced resources, expert faculty and a comprehensive curriculum designed to empower students and help them achieve their career goals in the judiciary sector, the statement added. 

Equipped with multiple facilities, the newly acquired centre of Coach Up IAS is based in UP’s Aliganj and can accommodate more than 100 students.

This adds to the slew of acquisitions made by Toprankers recently which include Chinar Law Institute, The Lex Guru and Pro Bano, among others.

In the law coaching segment, Topranker’s last acquisition was in December last year. It acquired the Gurugram-based test preparation platform Chinar Law Institute (CLI) for an undisclosed amount.

Prior to that, it acquired Indore-based The Lex Guru for an undisclosed amount post which, the legal test prep startup rebranded to Judiciary Gold.

India’s broader edtech space is going through a rough patch right now.

This uncertainty is majorly due to the diminishing interest of investors in this space, which is largely the result of the reopening of schools and colleges after the Covid-19 pandemic. Not to mention, weak governance guardrails, hefty cash burns, and mounting losses by many, too, impacted investors’ sentiment for this once-flourishing space.   

According to Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023, the Indian edtech startups could only secure a mere $283 Mn in 2023 compared to $2.4 Bn in 2022, registering a massive 88% year-on-year (YoY) decline. Also, the number of deals declined 45.91% YoY to 139 from 257 in 2022.

Imperative to mention that the Indian edtech space has laid off the most number of individuals in the last two years. As many as 24 Indian edtech startups sacked more than 14,616 employees during these years.