[Unicorn] Edtech Eruditus raises $650 mn at $3.2 Bn valuation from Accel and Softbank

Eruditus has raised $650 million in new funding round from Accel US and SoftBank Vision Fund II. This values the company at $3.2 billion post-investment; a mix of primary capital infusion and secondary stake sale by existing shareholders.  The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has also invested in the firm. Further, the company will receive $430 million in primary capital. $220 million of the secondary sale proceeds will go to existing backers like Bertelsmann as an offer for sale. The startup said it will deploy the fresh funds to develop more courses and build new products. It will also double down on new markets, and fund acquisitions.

The round comes just a few days after upGrad turned unicorn, making Eruditus, India's fourth edtech unicorn after India's most valued startup BYJU’S, Softbank-backed Unacademy, and upGrad.

About Eruditus

Chaitanya Kalipatnapu and Ashwin Damera founded the 11-year-old startup to provide executive education programs in association with global business schools such as MIT, Columbia, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Tuck at Dartmouth, Wharton, UC Berkeley, and London Business School. The six to eight months long courses are available on-campus, off-campus and online modes. It also offers courses from Indian institutions such as IIT Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, and BML Munjal University among others. The startup is also backed by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). CZI is a non-profit organization of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.

More than 250,000 individuals across 80 countries have used its courses. It may not have created as much buzz as other edtechs; for example, BYJU'S and Unacademy have acquired 20+ startups in the past couple of years and Eruditus made its first acquisition with iDTech for $200 million to expand its offering in the K-12 space in May 2021; thus, its growth spurt marks a strong future for the company.