Edtech giant Byju’s is raising $300 mn, valuation may touch $18 bn

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Byju’s is raising about Rs 2,200 crore ($300 million) as part of a larger round of new investment as the world’s most valuable edtech company focuses on expanding its business in global markets and explores to do more acquisitions.

According to industry sources, the new funding may value Bengaluru-based Byju’s at $18 billion, up from a valuation of $16.5 billion in June this year. In June, Byju’s became India’s most valuable unicorn with a valuation of $16.5 billion, surpassing fintech company Paytm’s $16 billion valuation.

The company is proposing to allot 77,174 Series F compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares of the face value of Rs 10 each and at a securities premium of Rs 2,85,062 to the investors, according to regulatory documents sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler. The resolution for this funding was passed on September 27, 2021.

It is raising Rs 2,200 crore funding under private placement from Oxshott Venture Fund, along with the participation of Edelweiss Private Investments Trust, Verition Multi-Strategy Master Fund, IIFL Private Equity Fund, XN Exponent Holdings, and MarketX Ventures, among others.

Out of Rs 2,200 crore funding, majority of the capital which is about Rs 1,200 crore is going to come from Oxshott Venture Fund.

“The company proposes to complete the allotment of the shares within 30 days from the date of the receipt of the application money for such shares,” said the company in the document. “The company needs funds to meet the working capital and business expansion plans.”

Byju’s is on an acquisition spree in India and globally as the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online education. Students and professionals are looking to upgrade their skills, while schools and offices remain shut.

The startup has now acquired about 8 companies in India and the US this year and spent more than $2 billion in the past six months on these acquisitions, according to sources. The inorganic route is expected to help Bengaluru-based Byju’s to dominate the edtech market.

Last month, it acquired US-based Tynker, a leading K-12 creative coding platform for about $200 million. The acquisition would further accelerate Byju’s US market expansion.

Some of the other deals include the $1 billion buy of New Delhi-based Aakash Educational Services (AESL) in April and the $600 million acquisition of Singapore-headquartered Great Learning, a leading global player in professional and higher education. Last month it also acquired Gradeup, one of India’s largest online exam preparation platforms. In July this year, Byju’s acquired US-based digital reading platform Epic for $500 million.

Byju’s provides learning programs for students in LKG, UKG, classes 1 -12 (K-12) and competitive exams like JEE, NEET and IAS. Its app has over 100 million registered students and 6.5 million annual paid subscriptions. With an average time of 71 minutes being spent by a student on the app every day from over 1700 cities, the app is creating a whole new way of learning through visual lessons. Expanding globally, the firm has also launched Byju’s Future School recently.

Powered by 11,000 qualified women teachers, this is available in the USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico and will progressively expand to more geographies in the near future. Furthermore, Byju’s Learning App featuring Disney was launched in the USA in July 2021, to help children ages 4–8 explore, practice, and understand math, language and reading concepts through interactive learning. (Business Standard)