Venture capital firm Bond has invested an undisclosed amount in Byju’s, an India-based online education provider backed by corporates Bennett Coleman & Co (BCC), Naspers and Tencent, at a $10.5bn valuation, TechCrunch has reported.
The investment was sized below $100m, according to a person familiar with the matter. Byju’s has neither confirmed the size nor the valuation but the news follows reports last month that it was seeking up to $400m in funding at a $10bn valuation.
Founded in 2011, Byju’s has built a mobile app that helps students aged six to 18 study subjects through video lessons, interactive tests and personalised learning plans based on relevant syllabi. It also offers pre-school content following the acquisition of Osmo in January 2019.
The company claims to have more than 57 million registered users including 3.5 million paying subscribers, and chief executive Byju Raveendran noted this week that coronavirus-linked school closures have provided growth opportunities.
The deal comes in the wake of $200m from hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management in January this year and an undisclosed sum from General Atlantic the following month, a commitment sized at of $300m to $350m according to TechCrunch.
Byju’s had previously raised a total of $934m in funding including $150m from Qatar Investment Authority and Owl Ventures in July 2019.
Naspers Ventures, a corporate venture capital vehicle for media and e-commerce group Naspers, led a $540m round for the company in late 2018 consisting of primary and secondary financing, with Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and General Atlantic also taking part.
Internet group Tencent had provided $40m for Byju’s in July 2017, four months after investment firm Verlinvest invested $31m. International Finance Corporation had previously supplied $15m in December 2016.
Sequoia Capital and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative co-led a $50m round for the company in September the same year that included media group BCC’s Times Internet unit as well as Sofina and Lightspeed Venture Partners, though Lightspeed no longer lists Byju’s as a portfolio company.
