Byjus raised approximately $300 million in a larger round as part of an investment. The Indian edtech company focuses on international expansion and aggressively pursues merger and acquisition opportunities.
TechCrunch was provided with a filing by Tofler research firm. It showed that the new investment values Byjus at $18 billion. This is an increase from the $16.5 billion valuation in June. Byjus was valued at $16.5 billion and had already overtaken Paytm, India's fintech giant, for the top spot in India's startup ecosystem.
Oxshott Capital Partners was the leader of the new tranche, while Edelweiss and Verition Master Fund, IIFL and Time Capital Advisors were also present.
TechCrunch believes the new investment is part a larger financing round, which is expected to increase Byjus valuation over $21 billion.
Monday's comment was not made by a spokesperson for Byjus
Byjus has been negotiating with banks about a possible initial public offering next year. This new investment comes as Byjus is already engaging with them. TechCrunch reported that some bankers have offered the startup a valuation up to $50 billion, if it goes public next year. Last month, Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive at Byjus, confirmed that an IPO was in the works.
Since the outbreak, the startup has raised more than $1.8 billion and has used large portions of its recent fundraises for acquisitions. It bought Aakash, a leading high school coaching institute with more than 200 centers, earlier this year for $1 billion. It also bought Great Learning and Epic from the U.S., among other things, for more than $1 billion in stock and cash deals. The startup announced last month that it had purchased Tynker, a kids programming platform, for $200 million.
Raveendran stated last month that Byjus continues to look at more acquisition and merger opportunities. These acquisitions help Byjus expand its offerings and tap into international markets in a more meaningful way, Raveendran said.
Byjus helps students prepare for undergraduate and graduate-level classes. In recent years, it has expanded its catalogue to all students. The Byjus app has tutors who help students with complex topics using real-life objects like pizza and cake.
New Delhi had to institute a nationwide lockdown for several months and close schools due to the pandemic. This accelerated its growth and that of other online learning startups like Unacademy or Vedantu.
