- The latest funding round with DST will raise the valuation of BYJU’s to $10.5 billion. BYJU’s has raised $500 million worth of funding in 2020.
The latest funding round with DST will raise the valuation of BYJU’s to $10.5 billion. BYJU’s has raised $500 million worth of funding in 2020.
DST Global, the late-stage venture capital fund backed by Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, is engaged in advanced talks to invest about $400 million in Byju’s online educational platform, two people confirmed.
Byju’s has been in a fundraising mode since the beginning of 2020 and has already raised $500 million worth of funding from investors including US-based technology investor Bond, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global in its current round. In the latest funding round the edtech startup is valued at $10.5 billion.
Bengaluru-based Byju’s will look in the ongoing round to raise an additional $ 200 million from established investors other than Founders, said one of the two people listed above, who is aware of the fundraising plans.
According to Bloomberg, which first reported on DST Global’s investment plans, an agreement could be signed as early as this weekend.
DST Global, headquartered in Hong Kong, has been aggressively investing in Indian tech startups, including companies such as business-to-business provider Udaan, fintech startup Khatabook, food delivery company Swiggy, and social trading startup Meesho.
Byju’s is India’s second most valued startup to surpass hospitality unicorn Oyo, last estimated at $8 bn. In late 2019, Paytm was valued at $16 billion, raising $1 billion in a round led by T Rowe Price and existing investors, Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund.
The edtech startup last raised about $100 million from Bond Capital, a multinational technology investment company co-founded by Mary Meeker, and $200 million from Tiger Global in January, when it was valued at $8 billion.
Since its founding in 2011, Byju’s has raised more than $1bn from among others Naspers Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Verlinvest Group SA, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital India, Lightspeed India Partners, and General Atlantic.
According to data from Venture Intelligence analysis, edtech startups raised $795 million from venture capital firms between January and June, compared with $108 million during the year-ago period. Edtech and health tech are the two sectors that have performed well between startups amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Byju’s provides learning material on their web and app site. The programs were structured to cater to students of all ages, from kindergarten to higher secondary schools. The software is designed for a range of programs for students, including competitive exams such as the Popular Aptitude Test and Indian Administrative Services.
In response to the government’s decision to shut down schools and educational institutions to help curb the spread of COVID-19, it recently introduced a freemium model, offering free access to relevant courses.
Since then demand for Byju ‘s courses has risen sharply as students started to accept online learning resources.
Byju’s is expected to recruit about 4,000 workers this year to meet an increase in demand for their online courses, Mint reported in June.
Byju ‘s added 6 million new students to the site in March when the lockout was first implemented, and another 7.5 million students in April, where the rest were organic users.
