BYJU’s Raises $150 Mn Led By Asmaan Ventures, Takes Valuation To Over $16.8 Bn

IPO-bound BYJU’s, which marked its eighth acquisition of 2021 with online exam prep startup Gradeup for an undisclosed sum, has bagged another $150 Mn led by Asmaan Ventures, along with Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore, reliable sources told Inc42. Having raised more than $1.3 Bn over the past 18 months, The fresh round of investment takes BYJU’s valuation to $16.8 Bn.

As per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings, the edtech startup allotted 38,705 Series F preference shares (each costing INR 238,125 per share) to Asmaan Ventures. India’s highest-valued startup and edtech giant has also allotted 6,045 Series F preference shares (each share costing INR 285,072) to Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore.

According to sources, the fresh funding is the first tranche of a $1 Bn round that BYJU’s has been in talks for some months now. BYJU’s, which has acquired 16+ companies, was in talks to acquire Gradeup as well as Great Learning in April 2021 in a deal worth $400 Mn. The Great Learning acquisition came through in July when BYJU’s acquired the Gurugram-based upskilling platform for $600 Mn.

BYJU’S has banked upon big acquisitions to get more control on the edtech market in India. In August 2020, it had acquired coding for kids startup WhiteHat Jr in August 2020 for $300 Mn. This year, the company acquired test prep giant Aakash Educational Services for $1 Bn, which has over 200 physical test prep coaching centres. It also acquired Mumbai-based K12 rival Toppr for $150 Mn.

Launched by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath in 2011, Bengaluru-based BYJU’s boasts over 100 Mn students on its platform backed by marquee investors such as General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, among others. The company also claims to have over 6.5 Mn annual paid subscribers with an annual renewal rate of 86% on its personalised learning programs. BYJU’s had raised $50 Mn in its Series F round in July led by IIFL’s private equity fund and Maitri Edtech.

Edtech major BYJU’S reported a net profit of INR 51 Cr and revenues at INR 2,434 Cr in FY20 on a stand-alone basis. Profit grew by 152% year on year while revenue grew 81% during the same time period. The company reported expenses worth INR 2,383 Cr, up 80% YoY. On a stand-alone basis, BYJU’S was profitable in FY20 as well as in FY19. However, a closer look at the financials shows a different picture.

The development was first reported by Entrackr