Edtech Unicorn BYJU’S In Talks With New & Existing Investors To Raise $200-300 Mn Funding: Sources

India’s leading edtech unicorn BYJU’S is in advanced talks with at least two new investors — private equity firm General Atlantic, and Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings — to raise $200-300 Mn funding.

If the talks materialise, the deal will value BYJU’S at $2.2-2.4 Bn, with the transaction expected to close within the next few weeks, people familiar with the development told Livemint.

People in the know of the development told the media that either General Atlantic or Temasek will participate in the funding round, and may not invest simultaneously. Existing investors, including China’s Tencent Holdings, may also participate.

BYJU’S declined to comment to Inc42’s email query to confirm the development at the time of publishing this report.

Launched in 2015 by Divya Gokulnath and Byju Raveendran, the online tutoring startup BYJU’S offers learning program for K-12 students with the use of rich animations, interactive simulations, engaging video lessons, and original contents. It also provides study materials for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE, GMAT, among others.

The company claims that students spend an average time of 57 minutes everyday from across 1700 cities, and has over 15 Mn users, over 20 Mn registered students, 1.26 Mn annual paid subscriptions, and sees an addition of 1.5 Mn registered students every month.

BYJU’S Growth In The Indian Edtech Space

Inc42 reported in July that BYJU’S was in talks with SoftBank and other investors to raise $200-250 Mn. Although the planned-deal has not been finalised as yet, it is being speculated that if the deal is successful, the company would more than double the company’s value from its previous round, making the company as one of the leading Indian edtech startups in the past five years.

BYJU’S acquired unicorn status in March 2018. The infusion, including the one by China’s Tencent and BCCL valued BYJU’S at $1 Bn (INR 6,505 Cr), as per the company filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The company also counts Sofina, Sequoia India, Verlinvest and IFC as its key investors.

A quick roundup on BYJU’S financials —

• Recently, the startup announced to have crossed $14.5 Mn (INR 100 Cr) in monthly revenue in May 2018
• It also revised its revenue targets for this year to $203 Mn (INR 1400 Cr)
• Inc42 DataLabs report suggests that BYJU’S saw its revenue more than double, and its losses increase by 10% in FY16-17, as compared to the last financial year
• Company’ Gross revenue for FY16-17 jumped to $36 Mn (INR247 Cr) from $16 Mn (INR 110 Cr) in the previous year, clocking a 124% Y-o-Y growth
• Growing consistently at 100% annually for the last three years, BYJU’S is now looking to expand its footprints internationally

Edtech unicorn BYJU’S recently acquired a Bengaluru-based maths learning startup Math Adventures for an undisclosed amount. This is BYJU’S fourth acquisition so far. Last year, BYJU’S acquired two companies from Pearson, TutorVista and Edurite (July 2017) as well as student assessment platform Vidyartha (January 2017).

BYJU’S is the first edtech startup to enter the billion-dollar club and competes with edtech startups such as Embibe, CultureAlley, CollegeDekho, Littlemore, and Meritnation.

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