S Chand, the education content company, has said it will sell its entire stake in AI/data sciences edtech platform iNeuron Intelligence to Physicswallah, a sector unicorn, for Rs 14 crore.
Mukesh Sharma Family Trust, which is a co-investor in iNeuron, will exit the company. S Chand got a two-fold return on its 2021 investment of Rs 7 crore in iNeuron, and it will be the second time it is exiting a recent investment in edtech. It recently exited Testbook Edu Solutions after an eight-fold return on investment in July 2022.
“We are happy to now hand over the reins to one of India’s most loved education platforms and are confident that both iNeuron and PhysicsWallah with their expert faculty and focus on blended solutions will have great synergy and the potential to spearhead India’s digital learning journey,” said Saurabh Mittal, chief financial officer of S Chand and Company Limited.
“This transaction additionally enables us to monetize our edtech investments at an attractive valuation and provides opportunities to explore future investments that align with our growth strategies. We are focused on developing our own solutions and channels of interactive learning for K-12, test prep and college and will be launching newer initiatives and content to spearhead and navigate India’s journey on the back of the New Education Policy 2020,” he said.
S Chand and its subsidiaries, Vikas Publishing and Chhaya Prakashani, acquired a minority stake in iNeuron in December 2021 in two tranches.
The two companies have agreed to collaborate and work together on university collaborations. The term unicorn refers to any startup that reaches a valuation of $1 billion or more.