Unacademy invests $5 mn in Mastree for majority stake

Sorting Hat Technologies, which runs edtech platform Unacademy, said it has invested $5 million in Bengaluru headquartered K12 learning platform Mastree for a majority stake. 

Additionally, Blume Ventures, which has invested in both firms, exited Mastree as part of the deal, a statement said. 

The deal comes weeks after the Bengaluru-based company announced the acquisition of postgraduate medical entrance examination preparation platform PrepLadder for $50 million. As part of its inorganic expansion, Unacademy also recently acquired engineering test preparation platform Kreatryx and the non-profit educational arm of Directi Group, CodeChef. In 2018, the Facebook and Sequoia-backed company bought Jaipur-based online education and career portal WiFiStudy. 

According to recent media reports, Unacademy is in talks with SoftBank to raise fresh capital. The platform last raised capital in a $110 million growth funding round from General Atlantic and Facebook in February. 

Mastree will strengthen Unacademy’s presence in the K12 learning space, where it competes with Bond Capital-backed Byju’s, which is valued at over $10 billion, a statement said 

“Unacademy and Mastree have a shared vision, and together we want to create an impact and make quality education accessible and affordable. Mastree is building a highly impactful subscription product, and it will change the way students learn,” Gaurav Munjal, CEO of Unacademy, said in the statement.

Founded in October 2019 by IIT Bombay alumni Shrey Goyal and Royal Jain, Mastree is a subscription product focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics subjects for students between class 5 and 8. The product offers live classes, access to personalised practice sessions and live quizzes. 

“Mastree’s mission is to help students achieve academic excellence by igniting their curiosity and providing them with personalised and affordable education. We are excited to be a part of the Unacademy Group,” co-founder Goyal, also the CEO of Mastree, said. He was earlier an investment professional with Blume Ventures.