Technology based US private equity firm Silver Lake has led a fresh $500 Mn funding round in Byju’s, valuing the education technology company at about $10.8 billion. Existing investors Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures also participated in the investment.
Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of Byju’s, said, “We are excited to welcome a strong partner like Silver Lake to the Byju’s family. 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.”
Since the lockdown, Byju’s has added 20 million new students on its platform. Today, the app has over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions. The start-up said it has also doubled its revenue.
Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake said, “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.”
Byju’s has pulled in remarkable ventures like Tiger Global, Bond Capital, DST Global, and Silver Lake, on to its shareholder list. The company raised $300-$400 million from Tiger Global and General Atlantic in January and a further $145 million from Bond Capital and DST Global recently.
Amit Patel, Managing Director of Owl Ventures, an investor in Byju’s recently in an interview said, “At approximately $6 trillion, the education market is the second largest sector in the world and experiencing a significant surge in digital penetration. The meteoric growth of both WhiteHat Jr and Byju’s is illustrative of the rapidly growing and maturing ed-tech market in India and throughout the world.”