Info Edge takes full control of Coding Ninjas after acquiring remaining 45.36% stake
Info EdgeAcquirer
Info Edge completed the purchase of the remaining 45.36% stake in Coding Ninjas for US$5.0 million (Rs 39.91 crore), turning the online coding school into a wholly‑owned subsidiary and setting the stage for AI‑driven course integration with Naukri.
Deal Terms
Info Edge agreed to acquire 74,741 equity shares of Sunrise Mentors Private Limited, the operator of Coding Ninjas, at Rs 5,340.23 per share. The transaction, valued at roughly US$5.0 million (Rs 39.91 crore), will close within 45 days. Twenty‑five percent of the consideration—about Rs 9.98 crore—will be paid at signing, with the balance spread over three equal annual tranches on 31 March 2027, 31 March 2028 and 31 March 2029.
Background and Rationale
Info Edge first entered Coding Ninjas in October 2022, investing Rs 135.4 crore to lift its holding from 26% to 51%. Subsequent follow‑on purchases raised its ownership to 55.36%, leaving a 45.36% minority that is now being bought out. Coding Ninjas reported FY 26 revenue of Rs 97.43 crore, up from Rs 67.15 crore in FY 25, but posted a net loss of Rs 13.36 crore and a negative net worth of Rs 34.98 crore as of 31 March 2026.
The acquisition is framed as a synergy play. By bringing Coding Ninjas fully under the Info Edge umbrella, the company plans to embed mini‑AI course offerings into Naukri’s talent‑acquisition platform, leveraging the coding school’s curriculum and instructor base. The founders will join Info Edge with salary and performance‑linked incentives, ensuring continuity of product development.
Info Edge’s portfolio already includes fully owned startups such as Zwayam, DoSelect and Highorbit Careers. Unlike those earlier deals, the Coding Ninjas transaction follows a staged equity build‑up, culminating in 100% ownership. The move deepens Info Edge’s foothold in the education‑technology segment and expands its data‑driven recruitment ecosystem.
Overall, the deal reflects a strategic shift from minority investment to full integration, positioning Info Edge to cross‑sell up‑skilling content to its massive job‑seeker base while extracting AI‑focused learning pathways that can differentiate Naukri’s product suite.
Why It Matters
For Info Edge, full ownership eliminates minority‑shareholder constraints and gives direct control over product road‑maps, allowing rapid rollout of AI‑enhanced coding modules on Naukri’s platform. The integration also creates a pipeline for monetizing up‑skilling services to the company’s 150 million+ job‑seeker audience, potentially boosting average revenue per user and improving retention.
Coding Ninjas’ competitors—such as Byju’s coding arm, WhiteHat Jr., and up‑skilling platforms like UpGrad—now face a partner that can combine recruitment data with learning outcomes. This could tilt employer‑driven hiring decisions toward candidates who have completed Info Edge‑curated AI courses, raising the competitive bar for curriculum relevance and placement pipelines.
The broader Info Edge portfolio benefits from shared technology stacks and data insights, accelerating product development across Zwayam, DoSelect and Highorbit Careers. The deal also signals to other ed‑tech founders that a path to exit may involve deep integration with a recruitment‑focused parent rather than a pure financial buyer.
Key Points
- Info Edge paid US$5.0 million (Rs 39.91 crore) for the remaining 45.36% of Coding Ninjas
- The purchase price equals Rs 5,340.23 per share for 74,741 shares
- 25% of the consideration is payable at closing; the rest is spread over three annual tranches
- Coding Ninjas FY 26 revenue was Rs 97.43 crore, up from Rs 67.15 crore in FY 25
- The acquisition enables mini‑AI course offerings to be embedded in Naukri’s platform
Analysis
The US$5 million price tag translates to roughly 0.4 times FY 26 revenue, a multiple that is low by pure‑financial standards but high for a strategic fit. Info Edge is leveraging the deal to fuse a SaaS‑enabled learning engine with its dominant recruitment marketplace, creating a data loop where skill acquisition feeds directly into job matching. For operators, the transaction underscores the value of building modular AI‑ready curricula that can be packaged for larger platforms. Investors will note that Info Edge is willing to fund multi‑year earn‑out structures—three annual tranches—indicating confidence in long‑term cash‑flow generation from cross‑selling up‑skilling services. The move also reflects a broader consolidation trend in Indian ed‑tech, where larger ecosystem players acquire niche coding platforms to broaden their AI and data‑science offerings. As hiring platforms increasingly demand proof of AI competency, fully owned coding schools become strategic assets rather than standalone revenue generators, reshaping valuation benchmarks for SaaS‑driven education startups.