Byju Raveendran, the CEO of Byju’s has made a massive investment recently. Raveendran’s backing is part of a bigger $800 million round by the Indian edtech startup
Byju Raveendran, co-founder and CEO of the namesake Indian edtech powerhouse Byju’s, has invested $400 million in the firm. His investment is part of a bigger $800 million round raised by the Bengaluru-based startup.
Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock also participated in the round, the identity of which the startup did not reveal. According to a person familiar with the subject, the round values Byju’s at around $22 billion.
The funding comes as Byju’s is generally expected to file for an initial public offering.
Raveendran and his family’s stake in the firm has increased to 25% as a result of the additional investment, an uncommon occurrence in the Indian startup world.
Byju’s, which has collected over $2.5 billion since the outbreak began, has utilised a major chunk of its latest fundraises to buy companies. It paid over $1 billion for Aakash, one of the leading coaching institutes for high school pupils with over 200 centres, last year. It also paid more than $1.2 billion in cash and stock for Great Learning, Epic, and Tynker, a kids coding platform.
He said Byju’s still sees enhanced growth in India and overseas markets, using both organic and inorganic channels. He added that the startup’s ongoing focus is on accomplishing our long-term goals of providing lasting value to our learners.
Byju’s is thinking and reinventing how students will learn, unlearn, and relearn in the future to do this. The company aims to create something that will last for decades.”
The firm, which prepares students for college and graduate-level courses and has recently expanded to accommodate all school-age pupils, announced that it had 150 million users, up from the roughly 80 million it stated early last year. According to the startup, its annual renewal rate is 86 percent, and its NPS is 76.