Qatar Investment Authority, India's BYJU'S announce edtech subsidiary

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and BYJU'S, the Indian edtech company, announced MENA-focused edtech subsidiary in Doha. Edtech company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary of BYJU'S in Doha. The business will introduce BYJU'S personalised and innovative learning offerings for students in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) and set up a research and development center in Doha. Chief Executive of QIA Mansoor Al Mahmoud and Founder and CEO of BYJU'S Byju Raveendran signed the MoU in the presence of HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the QIA Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the QIA said: "QIA is supporting Qatar's national vision of economic diversification and building a knowledge-based economy. This agreement demonstrates QIA's commitment to enabling innovations that can benefit the young people of our region." Mansoor Al Mahmoud said: "QIA is proud to help enable the development of innovative education technology platforms in the MENA region to inspire children to learn. QIA has a strong focus on investing in leading innovators globally and we want to help drive the creation of new technologies that have a positive impact on society." For his part, Byju Raveendran said: "The goal at BYJU'S has always been to empower students around the world with the powerful synergy of pedagogy and technology and create life-long learners. As we continue to witness accelerated growth in Indian and international markets, we are excited to partner with QIA in this next phase of expansion, development and building new innovations in learning in the MENA region. Together we hope to achieve stronger development outcomes." As per the MoU, QIA and BYJU'S will initially work together to set the stage for the MENA- focused online education business. The new entity, which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of BYJU'S in Qatar, will introduce BYJU'S personalised and innovative learning offerings to the region. Additionally, it will also set up a brand new research and development center in Qatar to create customized learning content and products in the Arabic language. Since 2019, QIA has been a key investor in BYJU'S and has witnessed the company's accelerated growth into India's most valuable start-up and the world's most valued company in the edtech sector. With 150+ million learners and products across 120 countries, BYJU'S is the market leader in offering personalized learning programs for students across K-12, test prep and professional upskilling segments.