Bengaluru : Byju’s online learning platform has raised $ 500 million in a new round of funding led by US-based private equity (PE) investor Silver Lake, along with participation from existing investors, including Tiger Global , General Atlantic and Owl Ventures.
Silver Lake’s investment in educational technology platform Byju comes shortly after the PE investor acquired a 0.93% stake in major telco Reliance Jio to ₹4,546.8 million rupees in August.
The new round values Byju’s at $ 10.8 billion, up from its last valuation at $ 10.5 billion from its previous Series F round that closed in August, said a person familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified.
“This is a separate corporate round different from the previous Series F round which closed in August 2020, and there are more new international investors expected to fund Byju in the coming quarters,” added the person mentioned above.
This year so far Byju’s has raised about $ 1 billion in funding, including its Series F rounds, in which Tiger Global and General Atlantic previously invested $ 200 million each. On August 27, 2020, the edtech unicorn also raised $ 122 million in funding from DST Global, the investment fund spearheaded by tech billionaire Yuri Milner. Prior to this, in June 2020, Byjus had secured another $ 100 million from American technology investor Bond
“We are fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance during this crisis. This has put online learning at the forefront and is helping parents, teachers, and students to experience and understand its value. Our classrooms are changing for possibly the first time in 100 years and I am very excited about the opportunities we have to redefine the future of learning, “Byju’s CEO Byju Raveendran said in a statement.
“We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Byju and his impressive team of educational technology pioneers in their mission to help children in India and around the world reach their true potential,” added Greg Mondre, Co-CEO. from Silver Lake.
Since the closure, Byju’s has seen more than 20 million new students start learning from its platform for free. Today, the app has more than 64 million registered students and 4.2 million paid subscriptions annually. BYJU’S had doubled its income from ₹1,430 crore to ₹28.00 crore in fiscal year 19-20.
Other learning platforms such as Unacademy, Toppr and Vedantu have also raised funds during the period of the pandemic. Unacademy recently raised $ 150 million in funding from Softbank of Japan, valuing the startup at more than 1.4 billion. Edtech startup Toppr raised $ 50 million ( ₹Rs 350 million) during the pandemic period, while Vedantu raised $ 100 million led by New York-based hedge fund Coatue, valued at $ 600 million.
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