Red-hot education startup Byju's has seen its valuation soar to $3.6 billion following a funding round led by South Africa-headquartered Naspers Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on Monday.
The round netted $540 million - money that, Byju's in a statement said, will be used to fund its push into English-speaking countries.
The new valuation of the company, whose brand ambassador is the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is testament to its growing popularity in India, where good tutors are few and far between.
Byju's, whose other backers include the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative - founded by Facebook Inc. co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan - China's Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Sequoia Capital, currently has 30 million subscribers.
More than 2 million of these subscribers pay an annual fee of Rs 10000 to gain access to the tutor-led video lessons and the interactive content that uses real-life examples to explain abstract concepts.
"India has the largest school-age population in the world and Indian households are willing to invest a lot in their children’s education because a good education is the best path to success," founder and Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran said in his statement on Monday.