The $630-million, US-based PowerSchool, an EdTech company, is acquiring the Chennai-based Neverskip, an education technology platform serving 1.2 million students in India, for an undisclosed sum. It plans to expand its Global Capability Centre in Bengaluru with a 1,200 seater facility that will be ready by the first quarter of 2024, said Apoorav Nischal, Managing Director and Country Head, PowerSchool India.

The Neverskip platform is used by 900-plus schools, including DAV, while PowerSchool has around 70 clients in India. PowerSchool will immediately add 900 schools and 1.2 million students through the acquisition, he told businessline. The company has done around 15 acquisitions in North America in the last 25 years. However, Neverskip is the first outside North America, he added.

PowerSchool provides cloud-based software for K-12 education, while Neverskip is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company. “The acquisition combines the power of Neverskip’s ERP with PowerSchool’s solutions to create a unified technology platform for schools in India,” he said.

With this acquisition, PowerSchool will provide centralised access to all administrative and learning functions, including admissions, fee management, transport, student records, homework, assignments, examinations, report cards, parent communication, blended classrooms, personalised education, and meaningful data analytics.

PowerSchool supports over 50 million students globally, and more than 15,000 customers, including 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrolment in the US, and sells solutions in nearly 90 countries, he added.

Neverskip has around 125 employees. Post-acquisition, its founder J Shankar will continue as Vice-President, PowerSchool-Neverkskip. The Neverskip brand will continue to exist, he said.

On the GCC in India, which was established in 2017, Nischal said it currently has around 1,300 employees, out of the company’s global strength of 3,200.

Together, PowerSchool and Neverskip will support some of India’s most renowned schools, including the D.A.V Group of Schools, Ekya, Maxford, Future Kids, Manipal School and the SBOA Group of Schools, with its products. “The acquisition of Neverskip is an instrumental step in our journey to provide personalised education to all,” he said..

Industry research indicates the increase in school digitisation, which is expected to exceed $500 million in the next five years, but also recognises the scalability of the Indian ERP market to reach $1.04 billion by 2028. All of this is expected to increase the need and demand for tech-powered learning solutions. PowerSchool will continue to provide cloud-based technologies to enable schools in their digitisation journey, aligned with India’s New Education Policy, Nischal said.

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