Byju’s, the India-based online education provider that counts corporates Tencent, Naspers and Bennett Coleman & Co (BCC) as investors, has secured over $1bn in funding, the Economic Times has reported, citing regulatory filings.
Baron Funds, B Capital Group and XN Exponent Holding co-led the transaction, which included Silver Lake Management, Owl Ventures, T Rowe Price, Disruptive Technology Solutions, Footpath Ventures, Prudential Assurance Company, GSV and Olay and Investments.
Baron Funds, B Capital Group and XN Exponent had joined investors including MC Global Edtech Investment, Arison Holdings, TCDS and Tiga Investments to supply $457m in series F funding for Byju’s last month, and the latest funding will be added to that round.
BlackRock and T Rowe Price had provided the first $122m for the round in December 2020, according to the filings, which revealed it is sized at approximately $1.51bn altogether. It values the company at about $15bn post-money, sources told ET.
Byju’s offers a range of online learning programmes for students aged 4 to 18 through a freemium service. It is reportedly closing in on a $150m acquisition of domestic peer Toppr, which had raised $112m from investors including Brand Capital, part of media group and Byju’s investor BCC as of July 2020.
Silver Lake led a $500m round for the company in September 2020 at a reported $10.8bn valuation, investing with Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, Owl Ventures, DST Global and Bond Capital.
General Atlantic had provided $200m for the company seven months earlier at an $8bn valuation, after Tiger Global had invested $200m in January 2020. Qatar Investment Authority and Owl Ventures co-led a $150m round in July 2019 valuing it at $5.75bn.
Naspers Ventures, the subsidiary of media and e-commerce group Naspers since rolled out into its internet group Prosus, led a $540m round for Byju’s in 2018 that included Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and General Atlantic.
The 2018 round consisted of primary and secondary funding and valued Byju’s at approximately $3.7bn. It came in the wake of $244m in earlier funding, including $40m from Tencent at an $800m valuation the previous year.
BCC subsidiary Times Internet had joined Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to provide $50m for the company in 2016. Verlinvest and Aarin Capital are among its earlier backers.
