Allen Career Institute buys problem-solving platform Doubtnut in slump sale

Allen Career Institute on Monday said it has acquired problem-solving platform Doubtnut for an undisclosed amount.

A statement from Allen Career Institute, which is primarily an offline coaching business, said the acquisition will help the tutoring institute build on its technology-led learning solutions.

Sources in the know told ET that the deal estimates the value of Doubtnut, which has raised total funding of about $52 million from investors such as WaterBridge Ventures and Peak XV Partners, at $10 million. The company was last valued at $154 million in January 2022, when it last raised funding as per Tracxn data.


A spokesperson for Allen Career Institute did not comment on ET’s request for comment on the deal’s commercials.

Suitors for the slump sale had looked into Doubtnut for its traffic alone as it failed to scale after a point, one of the persons who evaluated the company for an acquisition told ET.

Doubtnut’s team will continue to develop the problem resolution platform for students of Allen Career Institute and Doubtnut, the statement added.

The acquired platform, the statement said, currently reaches 32 million students across digital apps, websites and YouTube. Allen Career Institute will offer its curriculum and academic offerings to Doubtnut’s student base.

“Timely and effective resolution of doubts is a core consumer need in education. Doubtnut’s platform will allow us to greatly enhance the learning experience for our students,” said Nitin Kukreja, chief executive of the coaching institute.

“Doubtnut’s mission is to bring education to every student across India using technology and high-quality content. We have worked towards this vision over the last six years, gaining immense consumer love during this journey,” Aditya Shankar, cofounder of Doubtnut, said in the statement.

In May 2023, Allen Career Institute had appointed former Meta executive Abha Maheshwari as chief executive of its edtech arm, Allen Digital. Maheshwari was tasked with building and leading the tutoring institute’s digital and technology teams in Bengaluru and help create digital-first products for students.

The institute also roped in Ankit Khurana as chief product officer and Saurabh Tandon as chief technology officer last year to strengthen its edtech business.

Founded in 1988, Allen Career Institute has been building its online education presence to compete against the likes of Unacademy. It has hired professionals from companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Flipkart, Samsung and Twitter and set up a workforce of 120 staffers for its Bengaluru-based technology and product teams.

In 2022, the Kota-headquartered Allen Career Institute received an investment of $600 million from Bodhi Tree Systems to help scale up and leverage digital technology. Bodhi Tree Systems now holds a 36% stake in the institute.