[Funding alert] Eruditus turns unicorn with $3.2B valuation after $650M round led by Accel, Softbank

Eruditus, the Mumbai headquartered edtech startup that offers professional education courses through collaboration with leading universities, has entered into the coveted unicorn club with a valuation of $3.2 billion along with its latest $650 million fundraise.

The Series E funding round of $650 million into Eruditus was led by Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, along with its existing investors — the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia India, Bertelsmann, Prosus, and Leeds Illuminate.

The funding round is a mix of the primary and second components, and this has resulted in a massive jump in valuation for Eruditus, which was valued at around $700 million in its last round of funding a year ago.

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The entry of Eruditus into the unicorn club – firms that are valued at $1 billion or above — makes it the second edtech startup to enter the league this year, along with upGrad which was valued at $1.2 billion after its fundraise on August 9.

At present, there are now 23 new unicorns that have emerged from the Indian startup ecosystem this year.

Eruditus will use this funding to develop new courses, create new products and industry verticals, besides expanding to newer verticals such as governments and enterprises. It will also be used for market expansion and to fund acquisitions.

“Eruditus’ mission is to make high-quality education accessible and affordable to learners across the world,” said Ashwin Damera, Co-founder and CEO, Eruditus. “With this fundraise, we’re excited to scale our unique business model, continue to deliver strong learning outcomes, and grow our global impact at a rapid rate.”

According to Eruditus, it has recorded more than 100 percent growth over the last one year, and said it is on track to touch more than $500 million in bookings this year.

“The unbundling of higher education and continued learning has only just started. We believe that the platform and deep partnerships with the world’s best universities put Eruditus and its partner universities at the forefront of this revolution in higher education. Their products are helping bring the best quality education to students around the world at affordable prices,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel.

Founded in 2010, Eruditus has over 250 professional learning programmes developed in partnership with universities, reaching out to 2.5 lakh individuals across 80+ countries.

“With the rapid rate of technological disruption, continuous upskilling is necessary in today’s job market,” said Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, adding, “The company’s partnerships with elite universities, and use of technology and data to create and deliver high quality courses positions Eruditus to lead in this space.” 

Eruditus has more than 1,400 employees, with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Palo Alto, Mexico City, Boston, New York, London, and Dubai.