India’s EdTech giant Byju’s has raised INR 3,328 crore (about $460 million) in its ongoing Series F funding round led by MC Global EdTech Investment Holdings LP.
Other investors participated in the round include B Capital, Tiga Investments, XN Exponent Holdings, Arison Holdings, TCDS (India) LP, Baron Emerging Market Fund, and Baron Global Advantage Fund.
According to the regulatory filings, as reported by Entrackr, the Bengaluru-based EdTech major has approved the allotment of 1,40,233 Series F Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at a face value of INR 10 and a premium of INR 2,37,326 per share to raise the amount. The filing showed lead investor MC Global EdTech has invested INR 1,628 crore (about $225 million) for a 1.73% stake, and B Capital INR 561 crore (about $77 million) for 0.59% stake in the company. Baron Emerging Market Fund and Baron Global Advantage Fund together invested $80 million, XN Exponent Holdings $41.5 million, Arison Holdings and TCDS India LP $15 million and $14 million respectively.
The latest funding is part of the company’s plan to raise about $700 million from new and existing investors, at a valuation of $15 billion. With it, Byju’s has raised over $1 billion in FY21, and the company’s valuation has crossed $13 billion.
Byju’s has seen a substantial rise in its valuation due to the ongoing pandemic as education has transitioned to online with schools and universities being closed to contain the spread of the deadly disease. It doubled its valuation last year, from $6 billion to $12 billion, in less than 12 months. During the lockdown period, the company witnessed stellar growth, adding over 25 million new students to its platform. Byju’s now claims to have 75+ million registered students, with 4.5 million annual paid subscribers on its platform.
Meanwhile, the latest round has reduced the shareholding of the promoters group, which includes founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and brother Riju Raveendran, to 26.09 percent, while the non-promoters group had 73.91 percent holding in the company.
Byju’s had last raised $200 million in November 2020 from private equity firms BlackRock and T Rowe Price, at a valuation of around $12 billion, around $1 billion more since the earlier round in September where it raised $500 million from Silver Lake Partners, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Owl Ventures.
Besides fundraising, Byju’s is also on an acquisition spree. The company has already acquired more than half a dozen EdTech platforms, including LabInApp (September 2020), WhiteHat Jr (August 2020), Osmo (2019), Math Adventures (2018), TutorVista, and Vidyarth (2017). And now, the most-valued EdTech company in the world is said to be in advanced talks to acquire rival startup Toppr and test prep giant Aakash Educational Services.
