BrightCHAMPS acquires English-learning platform Schola

Edtech platform BrightCHAMPS has acquired Singapore-headquartered Schola, a live-learning platform for kids to master communication and English skills, in a $15 million cash and stock deal. The acquisition comes on the heels of its $ 100million investment war-chest announcement in June. It is also in line with BrightCHAMPS’ vision of becoming a one-stop destination for all next-gen life skills for kids in the K-12 segment globally. 

Announcing the deal, the company's Founder and CEO, Ravi Bhushan, said, “The ability to communicate confidently, coherently, and creatively is a crucial life-skill for kids and a prerequisite for success as an adult… Given Schola’s profitability and sustainable growth approach with low cash-burn, we already know that there is great synergy between the two companies’ operating models. I am confident that with Aditya Gupta and Nhu Tran Le Thanh at the forefront, not only will Schola deepen our presence in the 30+ countries we’re already operational in, but also help us introduce BrightCHAMPS to many other parts of the world.” 

Schola was founded in 2019 by former senior Facebook executives, Gupta and Thanh. It offers several courses, including communications, public speaking, leadership presentation and confidence-building skills, in a live, one-on-one class model for kids from four to 15 years of age.

The courses are designed keeping in mind the particular needs of kids who are first-generation English speakers, with an emphasis on learning through real-life practice of spoken English. This has led to the company’s consistently customer-satisfaction score of 9.6/10. Its interactive curriculum is delivered by teachers who have TEFL or TESOL teaching certificates with native-level or equivalent English-speaking proficiency. The company currently offers classes to students from 12 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and others. 

Aditya Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Schola, said, “Far too many kids from countries and families that don’t speak English as their first language end up getting overlooked for higher education or career opportunities despite being perfectly qualified in every other way. Our goal is that lack of English proficiency should never again come in the way of a child’s dreams once they are touched by Schola. We look forward to expanding our presence beyond the 12 countries we are currently operational in the months to come.” 

Launched in 2020, BrightCHAMPS is currently valued at $650 million, after raising $63 million from marquee names across geographies such as US-based GSV Ventures, Singapore-based BEENEXT, and Premji Invest and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital from India. The edtech claims to deliver 3,00,000 classes every month across its coding, financial literacy, and robotics verticals for kids between 6 to 16 years of age to help them become future-ready and thrive in a modern world.

It boasts of over 90 per cent completion rates, renewals that exceed 80 per cent, while maintaining an NPS of well over 70. It is currently operational in over 30 countries, including the US, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Nigeria.