Upksilling start-up Scaler acquires Applied Roots for $50 mn

Upscaling start-up Scaler has acquired online learning platform, Applied Roots for $50 million to strengthen its Data Science, AI and ML offering. This is the third acquisition for Scaler. Last year Scaler acquired Coding Minutes and Coding Elements to accelerate the growth of their business. Scaler recently raised Series B funding of $55 from Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global, and Lightrock India. The young edtech brand is currently valued at $710 million.

Bootstrapped by a team of six - Srikanth Varma Chekuri, Murali Krishna Varri, Naveen Reddy Bade, Brahma Reddy, Srinivas Reddy and Satish Atcha - Applied Roots is known for their flagship AppliedAICourse.

Last year, the Applied Roots team teamed up with the University of Hyderabad (UoH) to offer an online diploma course in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The platform also provides tech professionals with GATE CS preparation and applied coding tracks. The team has served 40,000+ learners in the last four years, enabling career transitions of thousands. The e-learning platform also claims to produce over 40 ranks in the top 100 in the GATE CS 2021 exam.

“We are delighted to welcome the Applied Roots team to be part of the Scaler ecosystem. All the co-founders have extensive experience across software development, AI & ML and the edtech industry. We feel powerful synergy with their team, their ideas and goals. Together we can accelerate the pace at which we can aid aspiring tech professionals to upskill themselves and create meaningful and rewarding careers. As we build ourselves into a world-class virtual tech varsity, their experiences will come in very handy. This acquisition will allow us to strengthen our DS, ML & Al offering and help us tap into a much wider learner base,” Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder, Scaler said.

Post the acquisition, all the six co-founders will join Scaler and lead varied projects. A vast majority of the team of Applied Roots will work with the Scaler DS&ML business vertical. Some team members will also be building on the content vertical - Scaler Topics - a technopedia and curated interactive space for aspiring software professionals to learn and master the right tech skills. The Applied Roots team will also be spearheading some new initiatives and programs that are planned for later in the year, as per an official handout

"We started Applied Roots to democratise higher education with phenomenal quality and mentorship, and our vision is in perfect alignment with that of Scaler. Like them, we also focus obsessively on learner success, which is one of the biggest reasons we are thrilled to join the mission. Our immediate goal will be to support the efforts and projects being done in the Data Science & ML team. We will also incorporate a separate Data Analyst Sub track within the Data Science program. Scaler has a mission-oriented and high capability team, and we are looking forward to working with them. It is an exciting time in the ed-tech space in the country, and we are very optimistic about what we can achieve together. We aspire to build the best DS &ML programs in the world,” Srikanth Verma Chekuri, co-founder, Applied Roots, said.