Byju's CEO pumps 50% of $800 mn in latest fundraise; valuation tops $22 bn

Edtech firm Byju’s has raised $800 million (about Rs 6,000 crore) in the latest funding round, with founder and Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran contributing half of it. Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock also participated in this round, taking the Bengaluru-based company’s valuation to about $22 billion from $18 billion earlier, according to people familiar with the matter.

After making a personal investment of $400 million in the company, Raveendran’s stake has jumped from 22 per cent to about 25 per cent, sources said.

Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company, is focussing on expanding its business in global markets and exploring more acquisitions. The firm is also in talks with Churchill Capital to raise $4 billion and go public through the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) route. The round, if successful, could more than double its valuation to about $48 billion, sources said.

“We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and international markets through both organic and inorganic routes,” said Raveendran. “Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners. For that, we are imagining and reimagining the way students will learn, unlearn and relearn in the future. Our aspiration is to build something that will last for decades.”

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

In June 2021, Byju’s became India's most valuable unicorn, surpassing fintech company Paytm's $16 billion valuation and which later went for an initial public offering (IPO).

Emphasising the importance of India in the global edtech ecosystem, Raveendran said he always believed that edtech was a sector where India had 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,” he said.

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

Byju’s is planning to go public this year in the US, according to the sources. But India is also a strong option. It may do a primary listing in the US and a secondary listing in India or vice-versa. Both the US and India are large and key markets for it.

The firm expects to hit revenues of $3 billion for the calendar year 2023, according to people familiar with the matter. It has already crossed revenues of about $1.5 billion.

The listing would help accelerate the firm’s plan to become one of the largest players in the space in the US, with a target to hit revenues of $1 billion in the next three years.

The edtech major has raised about $4.5 billion since it was founded 10 years ago by Raveendran, a former teacher and the son of educators from Azhikode village in Kerala, and his wife Divya Gokulnath.

Today, its app has over 115 million registered students and 7.5 million annual paid subscriptions. It competes with players such as Simplilearn, Unacademy, upGrad and Vedantu and Eruditus.

The start-up is also on an acquisition spree in India and globally as the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online education. It acquired nine companies in India and the US last year and spent more than $2 billion in the past several months on these acquisitions, according to sources.