Internet company Tencent has invested an undisclosed amount in India-based learning app developer Byju’s as part of a round reported by Times of India to be $40m in size.
The funding was provided at a valuation of about $750m according to TOI, and a source told TechCrunch the valuation was about $800m. TOI reported in March this year that investment firm Verlinvest had supplied $31m in funding for Byju’s at a valuation of about $690m.
Byju’s runs a platform that provides a range of educational courses and exam preparation materials. It claims to have 9 million users, of which about 450,000 pay for subscriptions.
Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of Byju’s, said in a statement: “We are excited to have Tencent on board with us. This makes our strong investor portfolio even more diverse.”
Hongwei Chen, Tencent’s executive director of investment and M&A, added: “Byju’s has emerged as the clear leader in the Indian education-tech sector. We share Byju’s mission of transforming education by creating personalised learning experiences for students.”
The company has now raised more than $200m in total, including $50m from a September 2016 round backed by Times Internet, a subsidiary of media company Times Group, Sequoia Capital, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sofina and Lightspeed Ventures.
Other Byju’s investors include International Finance Corporation, the private investment branch of the World Bank, which provided $15m in funding in December 2016, and Aarin Capital.