IPO Update: Byju’s raises $800 million in Pre-IPO Fundraise

Byju’s has raised $800 million (approximately Rs.6,000 crore) in its most recent funding round, with Byju Raveendran contributing half of it. According to people familiar with the matter, Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock also participated in this round, raising the Bengaluru-based company’s valuation to around $22 billion from $18 billion previously.

Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of Byju’s, has also contributed $400 million to this fund-raising effort. According to sources close to the situation, the valuation has risen to $22 billion from $18 billion during the previous fund raise. According to sources close to the development, the funding comes ahead of the company’s mega IPO in the US markets via a SPAC deal.

“We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and international markets through both organic and inorganic routes,” Raveendran said in a statement. “Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners. Our aspiration is to build something that will last for decades.”

“I have always believed that edtech is a sector where India has the potential to create global champions by solving the trilemma of cost, quality, and scale. We will continue to invest in multiple learning models to provide students with quality education across the world,” Raveendran added.

Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company, is focusing on expanding its business in global markets and investigating additional acquisitions. According to the people, the founder group, which includes Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, some family members, as well as top management and employees, will own approximately 29 percent of the company following the round, up from 25 percent previously.

Byju’s raised approximately $300 million in October of last year as part of a larger round of new investment from investors such as Oxshott Venture Fund and Edelweiss Private Investments Trust. Byju’s was valued at $18 billion as a result of the funding, up from $16.5 billion in June of last year.

Byju’s became India’s most valuable unicorn in June 2021, surpassing the $16 billion valuation of fintech company Paytm, which later went public (IPO).

It paid nearly $1 billion for offline coaching institute Aakash Educational Services in April of last year. GeoGebra, an Austrian math platform, was acquired by the company in December.

It has also acquired Great Learning and EPIC, both of which are based in the United States, in order to diversify its offerings in the expanding ed-tech space. As part of its international expansion strategy, the ed-tech platform has been attempting to make deeper inroads into the US market and the Latin American region.

Byju’s said it was constantly innovating and introducing multiple learning programmes in various formats across age groups and geographies, with over 150 million learners on its platform, an annual renewal rate of 86%, and an NPS (net promoter score) of 76.

The company recently announced plans to double down on the offline segment in India, with a $200 million investment to expand its tuition centres. It has also opened 80 offline locations in 23 cities and stated that it hopes to open 500 more locations in 200 cities this year.

Its app now has over 115 million registered students and 7.5 million paid annual subscriptions. It competes with companies like Simplilearn, Unacademy, upGrad, Vedantu, and Eruditus. For the fiscal year 2023, the company expects to generate $3 billion in revenue.

The listing would help the company’s plan to become one of the largest players in the space in the United States, with a revenue target of $1 billion in the next three years.