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New-York based Tiger Global Management has recently invested US$200M in EdTech company Think and Learn, the owner and operator of learning app Byju’s and has thus raised its valuation to a staggering US$8B. This makes Byju’s the most valuable EdTech company in the world.
Being one of the influential investors, Tiger Global was in a negotiation mode with this EdTech firm from the past few months. Moreover, there are high chances of a second funding round soon of around US$100M to US$200M.
Byju’s was launched in 2015 for creating a learning platform for K-12 students as well as for aspirants of various competitive exams in India. This education app was founded by Byju Raveendran, an engineer, and mathematician with Divya Gokulnath. He holds almost 35 percent stake, which is remarkable for a co-founder.
Byju’s has so far proven to be an efficient solutions provider for several exams like IIT JEE, CAT, UPSC, etc. Byju’s claims to have more than 40 Million registered users on its learning platform.
Apart from increasing the number of users, this Edtech platform has achieved several milestones in terms of monetary gains. The total revenue of the company jumped from Rs490 crores in FY 2018 to Rs1341 crores in FY 2019. Moreover, Byju’s forecast its revenue in FY 2020 to be Rs 3000 crores.
General Atlantic and Tencent invested USD 11.4 M in Byju’s and thus raised its net worth to USD 4B. It happened four months back. Even in July 2019, it got funding of USD150 Million from Qatar Investment Authority for its expansion. Moreover, there are various supporters like Naspers, Sequoia Capital, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Light speed Venture Partners. Tencent is one of the biggest backers of this Edtech start-up in India. Times Internet is also an investor of this platform.
The start-up plans to raise a funding of USD1 B in 2020 from multiple investors out there, including US-based endowment funds. The company has well-defined plans to achieve profitability.
The recently secured funding through Tiger Global has made Byju’s the most valuable start-up in India after Paytm and OYO. It helped Byju’s to surpass Snapdeal, an e-commerce giant.
The education sector always remains at boom. Specifically in India, the companies dealing in this sector like Byju’s have done great because of leveraging technology to drive education.