BENGALURU: Online education firm Byju’s has raised funding from American private equity (PE) giant Silver Lake in a new financing round in which existing investors General Atlantic, Owl ventures and Tiger Global also participated. Silver Lake had earlier acquired a 2.08 per cent stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 10,202.5 crore.
Byju’s has seen its valuation double to more than $10.5 billion this year from $5.7 billion a year ago, thanks to the Covid-19-led disruption which resulted in 20 million new students sign up for the platform.
In June, 2020, Byju’s had also announced that it has raised capital from venture capitalist, Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital. “We are fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance during this crisis.
This has brought online learning to the forefront and is helping parents, teachers and students experience and understand its value. Our classrooms are changing possibly for the first time in 100 years and I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to redefine the future of learning.” Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO, Byju’s said in a statement.
Even as Byju’s started out as online personalised tutoring platform for kids aged 4-18 years, the company is looking to diversify its operations with the acquisitions of players in other verticals. Last month, Byju’s acquired an 18 months old coding startup, WhiteHt.Jr for $300 million. WhiteHat Jr. helps kids aged 6 to 14 years build commercial-ready games, animations and apps online using the fundamentals of coding.
“We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Byju and his impressive team of education technology pioneers in their mission to help children in India and around the world achieve their true potential. We look forward to working with them as BYJU’S builds on and accelerates its compelling growth trajectory by forging new partnerships and continuing to cultivate a comprehensive ecosystem of innovative educational offerings,” said Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake. Byju’s said that the app currently has over 64 million registered students.