Online education startup Byju’s is close to raising $200 million in a fresh fundings.
With this investment, Byju’s has raised over $2.3 billion from investors in over 18 funding rounds.
The fresh round of $200 million, Byju’s has further narrowed the valuation gap with financial services platform Paytm, which has a current valuation of $16 billion.
About Company
BYJU’S – The Learning App is an Indianeducational technology (edtech) and online tutoring firm founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran at Bangalore.
In September 2020, it was the world’s most valued edtech company with a valuation of $11.1 billion.
Byju Raveendran, at the Global Trends Festival 2020, announces that the edtech startup has an 86% renewal rate.
Who are the investors?
Private equity players such as BlackRock and T Rowe Price participated in the new round.
BlackRock is an existing investor in Byju’s and T Rowe joined as a new investor.
Increment in valuation
This deal has lifted the Bengaluru-based firm’s valuation to $12 billion, close to $1 billion higher when compared with the previous round.
Increment in edtech start-up
According to the Venture Intelligence data, the capital invested in edtech start-ups in the country has increased 4x to $1.5 billion in the first nine months this year, compared to $409 million in 2019.
Customer Base
During the lockdown period, the startup witnessed a stellar growth adding over 25 million new students to its platform.
Today, the app has over 70 million registered students and 4.5 million annual paid subscribers.
Performance
The firm had almost doubled its revenue, from ~1,430 crore to ~2,800 crore in 2019-20, and is inching towards the $1-billion revenue milestone.
Byju’s claimed on 27 May 2020 that they had gained ₹2,800 crore revenue in FY20.
Looking beyond the home turf, Byju’s is intent on spreading its wings overseas, especially the US.
Earlier funds raised
The Bengaluru-based edtech firm had last raised $500 million in September from a group of investors including private equity firm Silver Lake Partners along with existing investors General Atlantic, Owl Ventures and Tiger Global
Comment from earlier deal
“There are always investors’ conversations going on. We have also raised money, not necessarily because we need it for any immediate purpose – we are not burning cash in India.
Having money in the bank sometimes helps you to take (acquisition) decisions faster.”
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