BYJU's raises fresh funds from Tencent

Bengaluru-based online tutoring firm BYJU’s has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Chinese internet behemoth Tencent, as it eyes inorganic growth through acquisitions in India’s fast growing edtech space. BYJU’s says it will utilise the capital to accelerate product development and enter new markets, apart from acquiring companies.

“With increased brand awareness and strong adoption amongst students, this year we expect the revenue to double again and we will be profitable on a full year basis. This round of funding will help us leverage our expertise in creating highly effective tech-enabled learning programs,” said Byju Raveendran, Founder and chief executive officer at BYJU’s, in a statement.

With nine million users, 450,000 of whom are paying subscribers, BYJU’s expects its revenues in the current financial year to double from Rs 260 crore it had posted last year. Claiming to have turned profitable in the quarter that ended June, the firm says it will maintain profitability for the entire fiscal.

So far, BYJU’s has raised over $200 million in equity funding from investors such as Sequoia Capital and Chan Zuckerberg Found-ation. The company has also acquired TutorVista and Edurite from US-based Pearson, an education services company that has a presence in over 70 countries.

“BYJU’S has emerged as the clear leader in the Indian education-tech sector. We share BYJU’S mission of transforming education by creating personalised learning experiences for students. We are excited to be partnering with Byju on this exciting journey” said Hongwei Chen, Executive Director of Investment and M&A at Tencent.