Amritsar, NFAPost: Edtech unicorn Byju’s has raised a fresh funding of $500 million in a round led by technology-focused US private equity firm Silver Lake.
The funding round saw participation from existing backers including General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and Owl Ventures.
This new round comes just after about two weeks when tech billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global had infused $122 million into the startup, and with this the edtech platform’s valuation stands at $10.8 billion.
The Bengaluru-based startup has so far in this year raised $1 billion, which includes its Series F rounds that saw investment by Tiger Global and General Atlantic, each of $200 million, and $100 million secured in June from US technology investor Bond.
“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 Chief Executive Byju Raveendran said adding that “Our classrooms are changing possibly for the first time in 100 years and I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to redefine the future of learning.”
Byju’s has seen strong growth during this pandemic situation with 64 million registered users and 4.2 million annual paid subscribers, having added 20 million new free users in the past few months, the startup said.
This investment by Silver Lake in an edtech platform comes shortly after it had picked up a 0.93% stake in Reliance Jio for 4,546.8 crore rupees in August.
“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,” Silver Lake Co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Mondre said.
Online learning platforms have been that one space that has seen several investors pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few months despite the uncertainty in economic conditions due to the pandemic situation.
Apart from Byju’s other edtech platforms such as Unacademy, Toppr, Vedantu, and Eruditus have also raised funding over the last few months.
Unacademy had recently raised $150 million in funding led by Japan’s Softbank Vision Fund, valuing the startup at $1.45 billion. Edtech startup Toppr had raised $47 million in July, while Vedantu in July had raised $100 million led by New York-based hedge fund Coatue.
Executive education startup Eruditus also early this month had raised $113 million in a round led by Leeds Illuminate and Prosus Ventures.