NEW DELHI: It is never a dull moment in the edtech ecosystem of India. After Byju’s and Unacademy, upGrad is the third edtech start-up to become the unicorn, taking the tally of the start-ups which reached a billion dollar valuation to 21 this year.
upGrad on Monday said that it has raised $185 million at a $1.2 billion valuation. The Mumbai-headquartered firm said that it is in advanced talks to raise $400 million more funding at a $4-billion valuation. It aims at focusing on acquisitions as well as expansion to the overseas markets.
Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, IFC (International Finance Corporation), a sister organization of the World Bank, and member of the World Bank Group), and IIFL participated in the current fundraise.The latest funding round also marks the first non-promoter funding of the company with serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala owning more than 70% stake in the company after the fresh financing round.
“We are very focussed on our path to being in the top 3-5 companies globally in edtech and serving the 1 billion workforce across the age group of 18 to 60 years. We are pleased with the investor interest ever since we opened up for a fundraise, and had our maiden raise from Temasek, followed by IFC and IIFL in the last 60 days,” Screwvala said.
“We will announce further updates on M&As and unlocking value as they unfold. Yes, the last value was at $1.2 billion but as I keep saying, we are not a fan of the tag name unicorn - for us, it is only a means to a much larger goal,” he added.
Meanwhile, another edtech platform Vedantu for K-12 students is also reportedly planning to raise $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.Byju’s, which is the largest player in the industry, has so far made seven acquisitions this year worth over $1 billion to consolidate in the sector which has seen a 2x-3x jump in the userbase since the onset of the pandemic and offered low-cost alternatives to learners in the overseas gerographies.
India’s edtech market is expected to touch$ 3.5 billion by 2022, a recent report by the Redseer and Omdiyar Network India stated. The report said that across paid and free unique users - in K12 and post K-12 segment have seen an increase, with the user base doubling from 45 million to 90 million.
Upgrading to the billion-dollar club
The firm raised $185 million at $1.2-billion valuation on Monday
Temasek Holdings, IFC and IIFL participated in the latest funding round
It is in advanced talks to raise $400 million more funding at a $4-billion valuation