Byju’s Raises $122 Mn Series F Funding from DST Global. Is it a part of the $400 Million?

Byju’s is India’s largest online EdTech platform. In a recent development, first reported by Entracker, it has raised $122 million from DST Global at a valuation of $10 billion, according to regulatory filings. Further, it is allotting 42,666 preference shares at an issue price of Rs 213,042.13 per share for a 1.2 per cent stake for DST Global. CIOL also reported that tech billionaire Yuri Milner of DST Global was to lead a $400 million round in Byju’s.

Founders Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Raveendran together hold 33.1% shares after this investment.

More to follow? Because the industry is rising.

Online education is one of the few sectors that has received a major boost amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more people experiment with virtual learning due to lack of other options. In the middle of this industry shift, Byju’s has bagged an investment of $400 million from DST Global. The latter is famous for investing in Ola, Swiggy, Flipkart and Udaan. It has now stepped into the EdTech Industry. The Investment Firm had also invested in Facebook, Spotify, Alibaba, Twitter and Airbnb.

With this transaction, Byju’s will be the second-biggest Indian startup after Paytm. It will join Paytm and OYO in the Decacorn club.

Recently, the EdTech giant had also purchased Coding EdTech WhiteHat Jr for $300 Mn. The investment allows Byju's to expand internationally, stated Divya Gokulnath on IID.

Byju’s, launched in 2015, said that it has over 64 million students learning from the app, and 4.2 million paid subscribers with an 85% renewal rate. As the lockdown spurred online learning, Byju’s said that it has had over 15 million new students on the platform, and did Rs 500 crore revenue in July.

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.