[Funding alert] BYJU’S raises $50M led by India Infoline and Maitri Edtech

Edtech unicorn BYJU’S, India’s most valuable startup at $16.5 billion, continues to attract investor interest, raising another $50 million from India Infoline Finance (IIFL Finance) and Maitri Edtech.

According to regulatory filings, BYJU’S raised this amount in a Series F round. Following this round, the edtech unicorn has till now raised over $1.5 billion in 2021.

BYJU’s had recently raised $350 million from UBS Group, Blackstone, Zoom founder Eric Yuan, ADG – a state fund of Abu Dhabi, and Phoenix Rising-Beacon Holdings. This round valued the startup at around $16 billion.

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The valuation of BYJU’S has doubled since January 2020, when it secured $200 million from Tiger Global at a post-money valuation of $8 billion.

BYJU’S has marquee investors in its captable, which include Bond Capital, Yuri Milner, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Silver Lake, and Owl Ventures among others.

Given the COVID-19 backdrop, and increased demand for online learning, the user base of BYJU’S has surged to 80 million with 5.5 million paid subscribers. There is also 86 percent course renewal rate.

BYJU’S has also added 45 million new users to its platform in the first six months of the pandemic, primarily from Tier II and beyond towns. According to Sensor Tower, it has emerged as one the top 10 education app during the lockdown. The edtech unicorn has emerged as the leading player in the segment with its closest competitors being players like Unacademy and Vedantu.

BYJU’S has also embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy buying out other startups and companies to expand its portfolio of offerings.

In April this year, BYJU’S completed the acquisition of Aakash Educational Services, an offline tutorial setup in a deal valued at around $1 billion. It also acquired WhiteHat Jr last year for $300 million.

The edtech space in the Indian startup ecosystem has emerged as the most favoured segments among investors, especially with the advent of the pandemic.