Edtech startup Scaler Academy has acquired online coding platform Coding Elements in an all-cash deal worth about $1 million (close to Rs 8 crore), according to its cofounder, Abhimanyu Saxena.

The Bengaluru - headquartered company had been in talks with Coding Elements for about a month as it was looking to offer a data science course to its users, Saxena said.

"The demand for data science is growing at a rapid pace. But there is a vacuum in terms of training programmes which prepare people for hands-on jobs as data scientists," he said. “We could have added a data science course to our bouquet of courses in other ways as well, but acquisitions are a great way to accelerate the journey."

Saxena said Coding Elements’ founder Mudit Goel has a "stellar background" in data science and will lead the vertical for Scaler.

Scaler Academy, whose other founder is Anshuman Singh, started in 2019, helps working professionals upgrade their skills and grow in their respective careers. So far, more than 7,500 people have joined Scaler's educational programmes. It has 50 instructors. Coding Elements is its first acquisition.

Coding Elements began in 2017 as a coaching institute in Delhi offering computer science courses to its students. It shut its coaching centres and moved to online classes after the Covid-19 outbreak. It has about 4,000 students on its platform who will now continue studying on Scaler's platform.

Saxena said Coding Elements’ founder Mudit Goel has a "stellar background" in data science and will lead the vertical for Scaler.

Scaler Academy, whose other founder is Anshuman Singh, started in 2019, helps working professionals upgrade their skills and grow in their respective careers. So far, more than 7,500 people have joined Scaler's educational programmes. It has 50 instructors. Coding Elements is its first acquisition.

Coding Elements began in 2017 as a coaching institute in Delhi offering computer science courses to its students. It shut its coaching centres and moved to online classes after the Covid-19 outbreak. It has about 4,000 students on its platform who will now continue studying on Scaler's platform.

Coding Elements also offers courses in partnership with government think tank Niti Aayog to over 2 million students across 6,000 schools. The partnership is expected to continue.

Scaler, which has raised $21.5 million (Rs 156 crore approximately) so far from marquee investors like Sequoia India, Tiger Global, Global Founders Capital and Rocket Internet, is looking at more acquisitions both in India and overseas. "We are looking at companies that have high distribution in our target group," Saxena said.

It has earmarked $8 million (about Rs 50 crore) this financial year for mergers and acquisitions.

India’s edtech space has seen much consolidation lately, with several mergers and acquisitions taking place. Byju’s, considered India's most valuable startup, has spent over $2 billion in the last six months to acquire four companies – Singapore-based Great Learning, US-based Epic, as well as two leading local edtech companies, Aakash Educational Services and Toppr. It acquired Whitehat Jr last year.

UpGrad (promoted by former media mogul Ronnie Screwvala) recently acquired KnowledgeHut for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, upGrad has entered the short-duration upskilling and reskilling segment, which is considered to have immense market potential. It has earmarked $250 million for M&As to drive non-linear growth.