Edtech online learning platform Byju’s has raised $500 million in a round of funding led by US-based private equity investor Silver Lake, with the fresh round of funding valuing the company at around $10.8 billion, according to a report.
The latest round of Series F funding has helped Byju’s raise over $1 billion this year. The round included investors like Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures.
“We are excited to welcome a strong partner like Silver Lake to the BYJU’s family,” said Byju Raveendran, the company’ co-founder and CEO. While Byju’s did not disclose its valuation and the size of the funding, TechCrunch reported that it had raised over $500 million—which would value that company at over $10.8 billion.
This would make it India’s second-most valuable startup after Paytm.
The move comes just weeks after the company raised Rs 909 crore from DST Global, as per regulatory documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry, which would give post-issue shareholding of 1.2 per cent to DST.
Byju’s became a unicorn in March of 2018, seven years after it was founded in 2011.
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped rapidly grow the digital-learning industry, with Byju’s reporting over 60 per cent increase in the number of students using its app to learn from home, co-founder Divya Gokulnath told THE WEEK in May.
The app has over 64 million users and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions.
