[Funding alert] BYJU's valuation jumps to $22B; Founder Raveendran leads $800M round

Edtech decacorn BYJU'S on Friday said it raised $800 million in its latest funding round, including a personal investment of $400 million by Founder Byju Raveendran.

The round, which saw participation from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock, has valued the company at an estimated $22 billion.

This is the first time that Byju has invested in his company. In November 2021, the Bengaluru-headquartered edtech major had raised $1.2 billion in debt from overseas financial institutions.

Byju Raveendran said, “We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and international markets through both organic and inorganic routes. Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners. For that, we are imagining and reimagining the way students will learn, unlearn, and relearn in the future. We aspire to build something that will last for decades.”

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Amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic, BYJU's witnessed rapid traction as educational institutions shut down, leading students and schools to adopt online learning.

In 2020 and 2021, while BYJU's garnered more interest from investors, the edtech startup also made rapid acquisitions in the edtech sector.

At present, the edtech major has over 150 million users on its platform, with an annual renewal rate of 86 percent. BYJU's core strengths lie in the K-12 category, i.e., school-going children between Classes 4-12. It also has products in many other categories, including JEE, NEET, CAT, and IAS, among others.

Speaking on the investment, Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Vitruvian, said, “As a leader in the edtech space, BYJU’S strong growth and expansion in national and international markets has been very promising. We look forward to working with BYJU’S as it builds on and accelerates its compelling growth trajectory.”

The edtech major's core market has been India, but it has also got a presence overseas, such as in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico.

Emphasising the importance of India in the global edtech ecosystem, Byju said, “I have always believed edtech is a sector where India has the potential to create global champions by solving the trilemma of cost, quality, and scale. We will continue to invest in multiple learning models to provide students with quality education across the world.”