Tencent-backed edtech unicorn Byju’s—the world’s most valued company in this space—said Thursday it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from US-based asset management firm Tiger Global Management.
A report in local media Economic Times pegged the funding at USD 200 million on a valuation of USD 8 billion, citing two people who declined to be named.
“This partnership will advance our long-term vision of creating an impact by changing the way students learn. This partnership is both a validation of the impact created by us so far and a vote of confidence for our long-term vision,” Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, said in a statement.
The ET report said the investment will entail a secondary sale transaction of the size ranging from USD 100 to 200 million giving an exit to some of its early investors.
Bengaluru-based Byju’s raised USD 150 million in July 2019 led by Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar and Owl Ventures at a valuation of USD 5-6 billion.
Raveendran said, “there is tremendous potential in this segment to create a highly scalable and sustainable model that can equip and prepare the current generation for the unseen jobs of tomorrow.”
The company that offers app-based learning programs for students in classes 1 -12 (K-12) and competitive exams posted a net profit of USD 2.8 million—the only Indian technology unicorn—in the financial year 2019. It said its revenue increased to USD 208 million in the same period compared to USD 73.2 million in the corresponding period previous financial year. It claimed the company is on track to double its revenues to USD 421 million in the current financial year.
“BYJU’S has emerged as the leader in the Indian education-tech sector. They are pioneering technology shaping the future of learning for millions of school students in India. We are excited to support Byju and the team,” Scott Shleifer, partner at Tiger Global, said in a statement.
In 2019, it launched an app in partnership with Disney for students in class 1-3 featuring the characters from Disney. The company is also working on launching programs in vernacular languages to make it accessible in the deeper parts of India. It claimed to have over 42 million registered users and three million paid subscribers from both rural and urban areas in India.
This is the third Institutional funding in the edtech space this year. Mumbai-based Testbook raised USD 8.3 million from Iron Pillar with participation from Matrix Partners India, Better Capital, and Vikas Chaudhury, who serves as the president of Reliance Jio. Another Mumbai-based edtech startup Tech Shiksha raised a little short of USD 200,000 from two dozen angel investors.
“Learning is a space where sustainable long-term growth translates to a larger good. This space is therefore ripe for innovation to transform the future,” Raveendran said.