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Dev Clever jumps after securing $50m deal with Aldebaron DMCC 

11:30, 21st June 2021
Francesca Morgan
Vox Newswire
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Shares in Dev Clever (DEV FOLLOW) jumped after it unveiled a ‘breakthrough’ tactical partnership which is expected to deliver a minimum of $50m in revenues over the next four years. 

The education-focused technology group has partnered with Aldebaron DMCC, a Dubai-based organisation which is focused on distributing and implementing consumer facing technology and next generation impactful digital solutions into emerging markets globally.  

The Company announced back on 3 February 2021 that it had secured a material licensing agreement for its core EdTech services, with an unnamed client. Today’s agreement with Aldebaron has been described as “a seamless extension” of that original arrangement.   

During the past several months various aspects of the Dev proposition have been successfully tested in closed Beta with the Client and today's Aldebaron deal becomes the central conviction "go to market education initiative" for the Client, Dev Clever explained. 

The partnership will enable Dev to accelerate a global rollout plan across Asian territories, starting in India in partnership with NISA and then extending across Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and into the Middle East and Africa in the next three years. 

The contract with Adebaron is set to earn Dev Clever $5 million in 2021, $10 million in 2022, $25 million in 2023, and $20 million in 2024 (each for the financial years ending 31 October). 

In addition, and as part of the partnership, Dev Clever said Aldebaron DMCC also has the option to acquire 7 million Dev Clever shares at nominal value over the next six months. 

Aldebaron also has warrants to purchase 60 million of Dev’s shares at 60p each over the next three years after signing the tactical partnership’s definitive documentation, it added. 

"This partnership is transformational for the Company and for the innovative end-to-end proposition we can offer students in terms of careers guidance.  At the same time brands, employers and educational institutions can through hyper personalisation start to activate and target young individuals and students much more effectively,” said CEO, Chris Jeffries. 

“We believe strongly that the smart integration of Dev Clever's innovative and proven solutions with our partner proposition has the clear potential to benefit the future livelihoods of tens of millions across the world and at the same time deliver much better outcomes for brands and employers,” added Ben Manners, Director of Aldebaron DMCC.  

Separately, Dev also announced this morning that it will acquire The Inspirational Learning Group Limited ("TILG"), a profitable and established UK-based educational business.    

Addressing shareholders, Dev said its partnership with Aldebaron is ‘an immediate major endorsement’ of its announcement earlier today regarding the acquisition and activation of multiple Career Challenge ("CC") initiatives which are first scheduled for the UK and India.  

The Company said TILG will be acquired for a cash consideration of £200,000 and the issue of 6,000,000 new ordinary shares in Dev Clever, subject to a phased two-year lock-in period. 

The proposed acquisition is expected to complement Dev Clever's existing career guidance and development platforms as well as naturally enhance the Company's content offering. 

Dev said it is expected that the TILG acquisition will complete by the end of August 2021. 

Following the acquisition, Dev plans to launch its own National Career Challenge ("NCC") combining TNEC directly with virtual work experience and assessments in late 4Q21. 

The NCC will be available to all students in the UK and will enable more organisations to deliver bespoke post talent assessment with immediate work experience programmes using Dev’s proprietary platform, it explained. Dev believes this will encourage young people to participate in the NCC which can offer apprenticeship placements and scholarships. 

Dev Clever intends to deliver the NCC program in India, where it has a well-established partnership with the National Independent Schools Alliance ("NISA"), in 1H22.  

The group outlined that it will invite all 1.5 million public and private schools to participate in the program, meaning the program has the potential of reaching around 280 million students to participate in what will become known as the Indian National Career Challenge. 

Subsequently, Dev Clever informed investors that it expects to use the Career Challenge initiative to enter additional large emerging market territories over the next three years. 

CEO, Chris Jeffries said the add-on of the career challenge initiative with Dev’s career guidance and educational content platform further enhances its proprietary ecosystem.  

Shares in Dev Clever have seen a nearly three-fold increase since the beginning of 2021. The stock was trading 13.51% higher at 42p this morning following the announcement. 

DEV price chart

Reasons to FOLLOW DEV

Dev Clever Holdings is a software and technology group based in Tamworth, United Kingdom, specialising in the use of cloud-based VR and gamification technologies to deliver rich customer engagement experiences across both the education and commercial sectors.  

Its educational division offers careers guidance and recruitment solutions to secondary schools, colleges, universities, apprenticeship providers and employers with digital products to recruit and develop applicants and skills within their institutions and organisations.  

Through its VR Careers Experience, VICTAR, the group encourages ‘hard to reach students disengaged from the process as well as reaffirming students on their career journey.’   

Focused on bridging this global skills gap, DEV offers technology designed to support schools globally and to embrace immersive technology and revolutionise career guidance programs.    

Due to a new reality of distance learning in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EdTech space has surged with analysts previously reporting an average increase in revenue of 335% according to an industry impact analysis by Rootstrap.     

According to market data published by MarketsandMarkets, the EdTech and Smart Classroom Market size is expected to grow globally from $85.8 billion in 2020 to $181.3 billion by 2025.  

In May this year DEV entered into an agreement with Intrinsic Capital Jersey Ltd, founded by serial entrepreneur and investor Chris Akers, to raise up to £10m (gross) through a subscription at 10p.  

The fund raised in May enabled DEV to accelerate its growth plans with collaboration partners and clients whilst also funding the expansion of the Company into new territories.  

The valuation multiples for EdTech Companies continues to rise as larger multinational companies acquire innovative players in the space to capture growth.  

In recent weeks, the Company announced that it had entered into a five-year exclusive partnership agreement with Veative Labs (“Veative”) and the National Independent Schools Alliance (“NISA”), India’s largest governing body for budget private educational institutions.  

The agreement saw all parties execute an implementation and rollout schedule from last month, which will result in Dev’s Launchyourcareer being utilised by NISA as the platform-of-choice to deliver a minimum standard of career guidance across its schools.  

NISA represents over 70,000 budget private schools in India, attended by c.13 million students. Chris Jeffries, Chief Executive of Dev Clever, has described the agreement as “a significant opportunity to support the development of millions of young people in India.”  

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Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest

The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.

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