Ronnie Screwvala-owned ed-tech giant upGrad recently announced its offline expansion under the new brand UGDX. With an investment of $30 million, UGDX plans on launching 10 global campuses in the US, India and other regions. Three are to be located in the US with the San Francisco unit all set to go live in January 2023. Five are going to be spread out in India across Delhi and Chennai adding to the existing facilities in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. One each is going to be launched in Singapore and the Middle East.
The offline expansion is going to be led by INSOFE or the International School of Engineering which was acquired by upGrad in May 2022 for $33 million. INSOFE is a Data Science, AI and machine learning-focused institute.
UGDX now aims to recruit expert faculty including around 1,000 PhDs across its campuses spread globally and use technologies to easily integrate campuses, faculties and corporates within a single umbrella. Through this offline extension, upGrad aims to offer a combination of both online and offline courses in upcoming and growing digital technologies which include AI, ML, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, IoT, Quantum Computing, Digital Management, and more.
Under UGDX, students can apply for Certificate, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral programs. upGrad’s new brand is all set to offer work-integrated and industry-centric education programs.
Commenting on the launch, Ronnie Srewvala, Co-Founder and Chairperson of upGrad said, “As a part of our goal to be the world’s first and largest fully integrated higher edtech company spanning college learners and working professionals from the age of 18-60+ years, this is a natural extension as we move to a very scaled blended offline and online model under our own upGrad brand.”
Presently, upGrad has around a 3 million learner base spread across 100 countries and 300 universities as its partners.
The new campuses under UGDX will be data science-focused offline institutes in the decided locations.
