Hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management has invested $200m in Byju’s, an India-based online education provider backed by corporates Naspers and Tencent, the Economic Times reported today.
The deal valued Byju’s at roughly $8bn and sources ‘indicated’ to ET that early investors may be set to exit through $100m to $200m in secondary investments in the near future. Its founders still own almost 35% of the company, according to ET.
Operated by holding company Think and Learn, Byju’s operates a mobile app that provides learning content for students aged six to 18, mainly focusing on mathematics and science. Students can chart their progress and access animated videos and adaptive tests.
The company claims its platform has more than 40 million registered users, 2.8 million of whom pay for the premium version.
The funding follows a $150m round led by the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority and backed by venture capital fund Owl Ventures in July 2019 that was closed at a reported $5.75bn valuation.
Byju’s raised $540m in primary and secondary financing in a late 2018 round led by Naspers Ventures, media and e-commerce group Naspers’ corporate venturing arm, and backed by Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and $100m from growth equity firm General Atlantic, valuing it at about $3.7bn.
The company had already raised $244m, $40m of which came from internet group Tencent in July 2017 at a reported $800m valuation. It had received $31m from investment firm Verlinvest at a $690m valuation in March the same year.
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation had invested $15m in Byju’s in December 2016, following $50m in a round that included media group Bennett Coleman & Co (BCC)’s Times Internet subsidiary three months earlier.
The September round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and also featured Sofina and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The latter two were, like Sequoia, existing investors, though Lightspeed no longer lists Byju’s as a portfolio company on its website.
