Growth equity firm General Atlantic has invested $200m in Byju’s, an India-based educational technology developer backed by e-commerce and media company Naspers and internet group Tencent, TechCrunch reported on Friday.
Byju’s did not officially confirm the size of General Atlantic’s commitment, but a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch the firm had supplied $200m at a valuation of $8bn. The cash will be added to the $200m provided by hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management for its latest round last month.
The company has not revealed a target size for the round. Previous media reports had suggested early backers could exit through a secondary transaction sized at $100m to $200m.
Founded in 2011, Byju’s has built a mobile app offering personalised educational content to students in primary and secondary schools, focusing on mathematics and science. It also offers specific programs to help students prepare for university entrance exams.
The platform now has more than 42 million registered users including 3 million paid subscribers, and more than 65% of its students hail from outside India’s largest cities.
Byju’s has now received approximately $1.3bn in primary and secondary financing altogether, having secured $150m in a round led by the government-owned Qatar Investment Authority, with participation from Owl Ventures, in July 2019.
Naspers Ventures, the corporate venture capital vehicle for Naspers, led a $540m round in 2018 consisting of primary and secondary investment that also featured General Atlantic and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
Tencent provided $40m for the company in 2017, after media group Bennett Coleman & Co subsidiary Times Internet had participated in a $50m round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2016 with additional participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Byju’s early backers also include Verlinvest and International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank. Lightspeed no longer lists Byju’s as a portfolio company but has not revealed details of its exit.
