India-based online education platform Unacademy has secured $150m in a series F round backed by social media group Facebook and telecommunications and internet conglomerate SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital also contributed to the round, which nearly trebled Unacademy’s valuation from $510m to $1.45bn.
Unacademy provides recorded and live video classes through a digital platform. Students can interact with teachers and each other, and prepare for exams by taking mock tests.
The offering ranges from classes to study aids for exams required to seek employment with government-owned banks, work for the railways or civil service jobs, or enrol in engineering schools. Unacademy also teaches informal subjects such as pastry making and chess tutorials.
The company was founded in 2015 to commercially pursue the success that co-founder Gaurav Munjal initially found with a YouTube series that had offered coding lessons beginning in 2010.
The latest round, first rumoured in June this year, follows a fourfold growth in business since February to 30 million registered users and 350,000 paying subscribers. Unacademy has now raised $349m in equity financing altogether.
Facebook had previously taken part in a General Atlantic-led $110m series E round in February 2020, investing alongside Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.
Unacademy’s earlier funding was supplied by its co-founders as well as Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, Blume Ventures, SAIF Partners, Stanford Angels, WaterBridge Ventures, Tracxn Labs and assorted private investors.
