Silver Lake invests $500 million in Byju’s; edtech's valuation now at $10.8 billion
Ed-tech major Byju’s has raised fresh funding from Silver Lake and existing investors, Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures. While the company did not disclose financial details, sources said Byju’s has raised $500 million (about ₹3,672 crore) in the new round that valued it at $10.8 billion.
“We are fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance during this crisis. This has brought online learning to the forefront and is helping parents, teachers and students experience and understand its value,” Byju’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Byju’s said the fresh funding round saw participation from Silver Lake, and existing investors Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures.
“We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Byju and his impressive team of education technology pioneers in their mission to help children in India and around the world achieve their true potential,” Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake, said.
Following the closure of schools due to the ongoing pandemic, the company had made content on its learning app free for all students. Over the last few months, BYJU’S has entered the after-school learning space with the launch of BYJU’S Classes, a comprehensive online tutoring program.
Last month, Byju’s acquired WhiteHat Jr, a Mumbai-based coding platform. With coding fast emerging as a key skill for the future, the company expects the integration will accelerate its international expansion plans.
Since the lockdown, the company has seen over 20 million new students start learning from its platform for free.
Currently, the app has over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions. The company has doubled its revenue to ₹2,800 crore in FY19-20 from ₹1,430 crore in the previous fiscal.
Last month, regulatory filings by Byju’s to the Corporate Affairs Ministry had shown that the company has raised about ₹909 crore in funding from billionaire Yuri Milner-led DST Global giving the entity 1.2% shareholding in the ed-tech company.
In June, Byju’s had raised funding from global technology investment firm BOND, while in February, it had raised about $200 million in funding from General Atlantic. The company, however, had not disclosed the financial details.
The edu-tech space has seen strong growth globally with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point.
While a number of players have raised fresh funding from investors, consolidation is also being seen in the industry with deals like Unacademy acquiring PrepLadder for $50 million and Byju’s buying WhiteHat Jr for $300 million.
