Edtech major Byju's is likely to raise over USD 500 million (about Rs 3,900 crore) at a valuation of around USD 23 billion in about a week, sources privy to the development said.
The company is planing to use the funding for acquisition in the US, they added.
The company is in discussion with Abu Dhabi's Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for raising in the range of USD 400-500 million and USD 250-350 million, respectively, according to the sources. "Byju's is in an advanced stage of discussion with some investors. The company is likely to raise over USD 500 million in about a week. The transaction is expected to be closed at a valuation of around USD 23 billion," one of the sources told PTI, who did not wish to be named.
Byju's declined to comment on the development. According to the source, the funding is part of the company's plan to use the fund for inorganic expansion, especially in the US.
The company has already acquired US-based reading platform Epic for USD 500 million and coding site Tynker for USD 200 million. The other overseas acquisitions of Byju's include Singapore-based Great Learning for around USD 200 million and Austria's mathematics operator GeoGebdra for approximately USD 100 million.
Byju's is learnt to be in active discussion with US-based edtech firm 2U, which runs platforms like edX that offers online courses created by Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Boston University etc. The edtech firm was also mulling acquiring Chegg.
However, according to a company insider, there is no active discussion going on with Chegg. The fresh fundraise for the Byju's comes at a time when the company is yet to get USD 250 million committed by Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott as part of the USD 800 million round of funding announced in March at a valuation of USD 22 billion.
The sources said the company has maintained growth momentum and the inorganic expansion, specially Aakash and Great Learning have been fuelling its consolidated business. "Byju's Great Learning has achieved over 200 per cent growth in international learner base in 2021. Great Learning has crossed the revenue run rate of USD 100 million in the financial year (FY) 2021.
"The company concluded FY20 with booked revenue of Rs 325 crores, which is a growth of close to 150 per cent from FY19. The company's user base has also grown ten-fold in FY21," they added. Byju's, which has a presence in 120 countries, claims to have 7.5 million paid users on its platform and maintains an average retention or renewal rate of 86 per cent annually.
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