Indian EdTech giant BYJU’S has raised $800 million in a strategic funding round led by its founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, who contributed half of the total amount in the round.
Other investors like Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock also participated in the latest funding round.
The Bengaluru-headquartered company has raised fresh funds at an enterprise value of $22 billion, up by about 22 percent from the last disclosed valuation of $18 billion when it raised $296 million in October last year.
The fresh financing comes at a time when BYJU’S is gearing to come up with its initial public offer in the US stock market. The company is said to be in negotiations with at least three Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) with plans to go public via a merger. According to a Bloomberg report, the SPACs include Michael Klein’s Churchill Capital, Michael Dell’s MSD Acquisition Corp., and the SPAC promoted by Harry Sloan, a long-time Hollywood executive.
“Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of BYJU’S, is also part of this fund-raise and has made a personal investment of USD 400 million,” the company said in a statement.
With this investment, Raveendran’s stake in the company has increased to 25 percent from 23 percent earlier.
Byju Raveendran said,
“We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and international markets through both organic and inorganic routes. Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners. For that, we are imagining and reimagining the way students will learn, unlearn, and relearn in the future. Our aspiration is to build something that will last for decades.”
Raveendran added the company would continue to invest in multiple learning models to provide students with quality education across the world.
Commenting on the investment, Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Vitruvian Partners, said,
“As a leader in the EdTech space, BYJU’S strong growth and expansion in national and international markets have been very promising. We look forward to working with BYJU’S as it builds on and accelerates its compelling growth trajectory.”
BYJU’S has a presence in 7 countries, including India, the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico, and has over 150 million learners on its platform. The EdTech major claims to have an annual renewal rate of 86% with its flagship app, BYJU’S – The Learning App, having 7.5 million annual paid subscriptions.
