[Funding alert] BYJU'S raises $460M in Series F round

Edtech unicorn BYJU'S has raised Rs 3,328.23 crore ($460 million approximately) as part of its ongoing Series F funding round led by MC Global Edtech Investment Holdings at a valuation north of $13 billion.

The other investors who participated in this round include B Capital, Baron Global Advantage Fund, XN Exponent Holding, Arison Holdings, TCDS (India), and TIGA (India), filing with the Registrar of Companies by Byju’s reveal.

According to the RoC filings, BYJU'S issued 1,40,233 compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) at a face value of Rs 10 with a premium of Rs 2,37,326.33.  

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MC Global took the majority share in this round of funding with allotment of 68,613 CCPS followed by Baron at 24,535 and B Capital at 23,622. According to BYJU'S, the amount raised in this round will be used for working capital requirements and business expansion.

Following this transaction, MC Global will hold 1.73 percent stake in the company and for Facebook Co-founder Edurado Saverin’s B Capital it is 0.59 percent.

This is the first fund raise for BYJU'S this year as it had raised over $1 billion in 2020.

The prospects of edtech segment in the startup ecosystem has been on the rise ever since start of the covid-19 pandemic with most of educational institutions being shut and the demand increasing for remote learning modules.

According to Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA), edtech funding grew from $522 million in 2019 to an all-time high of $2.2 billion in 2020.

BYJU'S also has been a acquisition spree with WhiteHat Jr for $330 million and is now undertaking the due diligence of offline tutoring school for various competitive exams Akash Educational Services, which is owned by private equity players Blackstone.

There are reports that BYJU'S is also in talks to acquire the Mumbai headquartered edtech startup Toppr.

Other leading edtech startups like Vedantu and Unacademy have also been acquiring other startups beside raising fresh capital.