Byju Raveendran Pumps 50% of $800 mn In Latest Fundraise In Bengluru

Startups in India are growing rapidly in every field, edtech companies have also played an important role in this. However, it is a recently launched concept in India and gained huge momentum during the pandemic. Opportunity knocks at every man's door, the same happened with edtech companies.

Today India's edtech industry is the second largest industry in the world and it is only growing. The industry is expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2022. It is one of the areas that have grown rapidly in the couple of year. Schools and coaching classes had to rely on technology to continue teaching during the lockdown.

The most popular among them all was 'Byju's'. It won the battle in the hour of trouble and gained trust among schools, parents and students. This journey of Byjus was not easy.

After completing B.Tech from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, Byju Raveendran started working at a multinational shipping company as a service engineer. During a vacation in 2003, he guided his friends who were preparing for the CAT exam. Based on the good results, Byju Raveendran decided to quit his work.

Journey continues by 2007, Byju founded the test preparation business Byju's Classes and the company grew to stadium-size classes. In 2011, he founded Byju's with his wife, Divya Gokulnath who he met while she was a student in his exam preparation class.

By 2015 we all started making smartphones as an integral part of our daily routine. Our more than 75% dependency was on smartphones and this is where the Byjus got the momentum by launching an app developed by Byju Raveendran. In October 2018, the app expanded to the United Kingdom, United States and other English-speaking countries.

According to Forbes, as of 2020, Byju, his wife, and his brother Riju Raveendran, have a combined net worth of US$3.05 billion. In January 2021, he was added to the National Startup Advisory Council as a non-official member along with Kunal Bahl. In April 2021, Byju's purchased Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for nearly US$1 billion.

Byjus is a born fruit. Now it has raised $800 million in the newest funding round, with founder and Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran contributing half of it. Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock also participated in this round, taking the Bengaluru-based company’s valuation to about $22 billion from $18 billion earlier.

Byju Raveendran made a personal investment of $400 million in the company, after which is stake increased from 22 per cent to about 25 per cent.

Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company, is focussing on expanding its business in global markets and exploring more acquisitions. The firm is also in discussion with Churchill Capital to raise $4 billion and go public through the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) route. If the round goes successful, it will double its valuation to about $48 billion,

“We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and international markets through both organic and inorganic routes,” said Raveendran. “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. Our aspiration is to build something that will last for decades.”

In October 2021, Byju’s had raised about $300 million as part of a larger round of new investment from investors such as Oxshott Venture Fund and Edelweiss Private Investments Trust. The funding had valued Byju’s at $18 billion, up from the $16.5 billion valuation in June last year.

In June 2021, Byju’s became country's most precious unicorn, surpassing fintech company Paytm's $16 billion valuation and which later went for an initial public offering.

Emphasising the importance of India in the global edtech ecosystem, Raveendran said he always believed that edtech was a sector where India had 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,” he said.

Byju’s is planning to go public this year in the US. The firm looks ahead to hit revenues of $3 billion by 2023.It already crossed revenues of about $1.5 billion.

The listing would help accelerate the firm’s plan to develop into one of the largest players in the space in the US, with a target to hit revenues of $1 billion in the next three years.

The edtech major has raised about $4.5 billion since it was founded 10 years ago. Today, its app has over 115 million registered students and 7.5 million annual paid subscriptions. It competes with players such as Simplilearn, Unacademy, upGrad and Vedantu and Eruditus.

It acquired nine companies in India and the US last year and spent more than $2 billion in the past several months on these acquisitions. Byjus appeared to be a great learning for small business especially in terms of India where there are number of business opportunities. Even today the remote areas are deprived of good education system, teachers and educational space. Thus the apps like Byjus can help millions of students in carving their future worldwide.

EdTech  has come up with gigantic Opportunities. It is one of the globally flourishing markets. It is estimated that EdTech market will rise 16.3% by 2025.

All the colleges and universities were shut during the worldwide lockdown but students were able to connect with their teachers through online classes. Right from video conferencing portals to mobile applications, EdTech companies have hit the floor with convenient solutions to lockdown. EdTech has been a leading industry even before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Amidst the huge mosaic of business opportunities, EdTech has been attracting many investors to invest and earn high return on investment.