Vedantu becomes 5th edtech startup to cross $1B valuation

India just got its newest unicorn as Vedantu confirmed that it has raised $100 million in Series E funding led by Singapore-based impact investing fund ABC World Asia. The round also saw strong participation from existing investors — Coatue, Tiger Global, GGV Capital, and WestBridge among others.

With this raise, the live online tutoring platform’s valuation is at $1 billion — making it the 5th edtech startup to turn unicorn after BYJU'S, Unacademy, Eruditus, and upGrad. 

In a candid conversation with YourStory's Shradha Sharma, Vedantu Co-founder and CEO Vamsi Krishna takes us through:

- Vedantu's role in being a category creator and taking live online tutoring mainstream

- being an early entrant in the online education space 

- the challenges and learnings from Vedantu's early years

- how Vedantu’s philosophy is designed to disrupt the ‘herd mentality’ in learning, 

- growth opportunities in an underpenetrated edtech market

- IPO plans, and

- what makes him happy about the milestones achieved so far.

“But what I am really proud of today is the fact that from the first live class I took in 2014 till date, there are now millions of students doing this and this is becoming mainstream. That is something that makes me happy and proud.”

Being the largest player in the K12 segment, the edtech unicorn is open to making strategic acquisitions in categories where it does not yet have a presence.

Vamsi also revealed that Vedantu is eyeing an IPO over the next two to two and a half years. However, the edtech startup's core focus, Vamsi emphasises, remains that of building a long-term sustainable company that continues to centre on innovation and impact.

Vedantu plans to use these funds primarily to strengthen product engineering functions, as well as expanding into newer categories through both organic and inorganic routes.

Vedantu is the latest among 27 startups that crossed the billion-dollar valuation this year, surpassing all projections by research firms and industry experts.

Between January and August 2021, edtech has been among the top three funded sectors, inviting over $1.9 billion in capital across 80 deals, according to YourStory Research.

Click here to find some useful tools to help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

The Interview

Kamal Bali, Managing Director of Volvo Group India, tells EnterpriseStory about the trillion-dollar manufacturing opportunity for India. And why it is essential for the country as a competitive advantage.

Editor’s Pick: Freshworks' diverse exec team

Recently, Freshworks became the first Indian B2B SaaS unicorn to be listed on NASDAQ, raising $1.03 billion at a valuation of over $10 billion.

In an exclusive interaction with HerStory, Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and CEO, Freshworks and Suman Gopalan, CHRO, Freshworks talk about how the NASDAQ-listed company was able to create an executive team comprising 33 percent women. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Building the ‘Shopify for hotels’

Many small and medium-sized hotels continue to depend on legacy processes and/or decadent software as they don't have in-house tech teams to build customised products.

Bhubaneswar-based SaaS startup Bookingjini aims to help hotels convert “lookers to bookers” by making passive visitors on their website transact instead of letting them drop to completing the booking on aggregator platforms. Read more.

News & Updates

• UK-based investment firm Entrepreneur First invested in six Indian startups. The firm, which backs individuals, currently has a portfolio of 34 investments in India since it launched its domestic arm in 2019.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is exploring the possibility of developing a next-generation astronomy satellite. ISRO's first mission dedicated to astronomy, AstroSat, launched on September 28, 2015, with its design life of five years, completed six years of its operation on Tuesday.

• Flipkart Group company Myntra said it expects about 5.5 million shoppers to participate in its 'Big Fashion Festival' that will be held from October 3-10. Last week, the company had said about 1.1 million unique first-time customers are expected to participate in the upcoming sale.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“While unicorn statuses are consequences and though an important milestone, but what I am really proud of is a million students learning online, and edtech becoming mainstream.”

— Vamsi Krishna, Co-founder and CEO, Vedantu

Now get the Daily Capsule in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter today!