NEW DELHI: Leading Indian ed-tech startup Byju’s is on the verge of acquiring rival Toppr Technologies in a transaction valued at roughly $150 million, according to several media reports.

The Times of India reported that the deal would be a mix of equity and cash, with a larger proportion of the latter. Investors have been given the option to either opt for a cash payout or get a stake in Byju’s parent firm. The transaction is expected to close in the next two-three weeks.

Toppr provides online learning materials to students in grades five through 12 and its backers include SAIF Partners and Helion Ventures. In January, it agreed to a $1 billion deal to acquire brick-and-mortar test prep leader Aakash Educational Services Ltd.

Founded in Bengaluru in 2011, Byju’s has dominated India's online learning scene. The company spent the latter half of 2020 raising capital from notable names including Mary Meeker and Yuri Milner. Two separate funding rounds in September, led by Silver Lake and BlackRock, respectively, valued the start-up at $11 billion.

Mumbai-based Toppr takes an app-based approach to education with video classes, mock tests, revision cards reminiscent of Instagram Stories and live support for students stuck on a question. It provides its services internationally and counts more than 16 million students, according to its website. Paid subscribers are a fraction of that. It started a code-tutoring unit called Codr last summer.

The ed-tech space has seen strong growth globally with the Covid2019 pandemic serving as an inflection point. In the past, Byju's has acquired TutorVista and Edurite (from Pearson in 2017) and Osmo in 2019. Last year, the company had acquired coding training platform WhiteHat Jr for $300 million.