[Funding] Silver Lake invests $500 million in Byju's pushing valuation to $10.8 billion

Online learning platform Byju's has raised $500 million in a fresh round of funding from Silver Lake. The round also saw participation from existing investors including Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Owl Ventures. The new round values Byju’s at $10.8 billion, up from its last valuation at $10.5 billion. It had achieved this valuation from its earlier Series F round that it closed in August.

“This is a separate corporate round different from the earlier Series F round which was closed in August 2020, and there more new international investors who are expected to fund Byju's in the next few quarters," state various media reports.

A round up of all investments in Byju's

This year, so far, Byju's has raised around $1 billion in funding including its Series F rounds which saw Tiger Global and General Atlantic earlier investing $200 million each. On 27th August 2020, the edtech unicorn also raised $122 million funding from DST Global, the investment fund headed by tech billionaire Yuri Milner. Prior to this in June 2020, Byjus had secured another $100 million from US technology investor Bond.

“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. I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to redefine the future of learning," Byju Raveendran, chief executive of Byju's said in a statement.

"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," added Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake.

Since the lockdown, Byju's has seen over 20 million new students start learning from its platform for free. Today, the app has over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions. BYJU’S had doubled its revenue from ₹1,430 crore to ₹28,00 crore in FY 19-20.

Other learning platforms like Unacademy and Vedantu have also raised funding during the pandemic, propelling their valuation to $500 million. Edtech startup Toppr raised $50 million ( ₹350 crores) during the pandemic.