Byju’s raises $122 million from Russian billionaire’s DST Global

The global C0VID-19 pandemic has brought about a considerable increase in the demand for educational technology, leading to companies such as Byju’s, Class Plus, Toppr, Vedantu, and Unacademy effortlessly gaining users and raising funds. To that end, Byju’s, a renowned edtech company, has reportedly raised approximately $122 million from DST Global, an investment fund led by Yuri Milner, a Russian billionaire. The financing is part of its ongoing Series F funding round.

For the deal, Byju’s is likely to allot 42,666 Series F preference shares, issuing price of approximately Rs 213,042.13 per share, as shown by regulatory filings. After allotment, DST would command a 1.2% stake in Byju’s. In addition to the ongoing round, DST might invest in more money in the edtech startup.

The promoters group at Byju’s further retained nearly 33.1% stake in the company worth approximately $3.3 billion. Before this newest capital infusion, they possessed around 33.45% stake in the company. According to estimates by Fintrackr, the edtech startup has further raised new funds at a $10 billion estimation.

In the current year, the edtech company raised approximately $545 million in four tranches in Series F round, which includes nearly $200 million each from General Atlantic and Tiger Global. At present, the company has raised approximately $1.3 billion from the likes of Lightspeed, Sofina, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Tencent.

Likewise, earlier this month, Byju’s had purchased WhiteHat Jr for nearly $300 million, which is currently considered to be as one of the major acquisitions in the Indian startup environment. The edtech firm is further in talks of acquiring Doubtnut, an edtech platform.

At the same time, its peers Vedantu and Unacademy have crossed a valuation mark of $500 million, though Toppr received nearly Rs 350 crore Series D round.  ClassPlus, Noida-based edtech startup to raise $15 million in a round led by Falcon Edge. In May, the firm raised nearly $11 million across two rounds from Blume Ventures and Surge Ventures of RTP Global Sequoia.

Source credits: https://entrackr.com/2020/08/byjus-raises-122-mn-dst-global/?utm_source=glance&utm_medium=mobile