RIL to acquire majority stake in AI-based learning platform Embibe

RIL on Friday signed a definitive agreement to acquire majority shareholding of about 72.69 per cent (on fully diluted basis) from existing investors of Indiavidual Learning Pvt Ltd (Embibe), a leading AI-based education platform leveraging data analytics to deliver personalised learning outcomes to each student.

Reliance plans to invest up to $180 million in Embibe, (including consideration to be paid for acquiring majority stake from existing investors) over the next three years.

Embibe will use the capital over the next three years towards deepening its R&D on AI in education, as well as business growth and geographic expansion, catering to students across K-12, higher education, professional skilling, vernacular languages and all curriculum categories across India and internationally, an RIL release stated.

RIL said the founder and CEO of Embibe, Aditi Avasthi, will continue in her leadership role and will drive the growth of the business.

“The investment in Embibe underlines Reliance’s commitment to growing the education sector in India and the world and making education accessible to the widest possible group of students by deploying technology. Reliance aims to connect over 1.9 million schools and 58,000 universities across India with technology. We are delighted to announce this partnership with Embibe, and believe that their highly experienced management team will be instrumental in enabling Reliance to realise its vision for the education sector, and strengthening Jio’s leadership position as a digital technology company,” Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio, said on the strategic transaction.

“Embibe’s team has built an incredible technology platform that can deliver personalised learning outcomes in a way that is truly scalable across all education markets. With robust AI stacks focused on content intelligence and automation, behavioral recommendations and student intelligence, our products have redefined the way edtech can impact the lives of students and teachers,” Aditi Avasthi, founder and CEO at Embibe, said.

“We are supercharging our platform with the ability to deliver both content and outcomes for every learning goal in every student’s journey, to be the leader in personalising education for India and the world. We are excited to partner with Jio – bringing unrivalled acceleration to our growth story through data and device access. Most of all, we are delighted to partner with Reliance and share their deep conviction and visionary passion to sow the seeds of a new India with data as the new soil,” she added.

Relentless student focus, investment in the best technology and commitment to real outcomes have helped Embibe deliver tangible score improvements of up to 50 per cent for the toughest exams in India. With 18 billion metadata points associated with insight mining and five patents in progress, Embibe was recently recognised as the best AI company in education by Amazon India.

Over the last 5 years, Embibe has trained over 15 million students. Sixty leading educational institutions from the private and public sectors in India benefit from its newly launched AI driven education platform-as-a-service. Embibe counts Lightbox Ventures and Kalaari Capital amongst its investors.

RIL said the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Citibank acted as financial advisor, AZB & Partners, Covington & Burling LLP and KPMG acted as legal advisors and Pricewaterhouse Coopers provided tax advisory and diligence services to RIL.

Embibe was advised by Arpwood Capital, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Partners and Khaitan & Company as legal advisors and Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Limited for tax advisory services.