Byju's raises $200 Mn at $8 Bn valuation from Tiger Global

Edtech Unicorn Byju's becomes the third most valuable startup after Paytm and OYO. The edtech unicorn has raised $200 million at a valuation of $8 billion in a round led by Tiger Global.

This is also a giant leap in the valuation of Byju's, which last raised $150 million in July 2019 in ongoing Series G round led by Qatar Investment Authority. The Bengaluru-based company was then valued at about $5.5-$5.7 billion.

Besides the funding round, Byju's is likely to give exits to some of the early backers via $100-$200 million worth secondary transactions, reports ET.

With the fresh round, Byju's will up the ante against distant rivals in this space. As far as valuation is concerned, no startup in this sector has even crossed the $250 million mark. 

Byju's, which operates in the K-12 learning category, has been exploring more overseas markets for the past couple of years. The fresh fund will help Byju's expand its footprint and achieve scale alongside building a global brand.

Moreover, Byju's is close to profitability on a full-year basis. For the financial year ending on March 31, 2019, the company had recorded a threefold jump in revenue from operations to Rs 1,306 crore. 

During the period, it managed to control its losses by 76.3% to Rs 8.8 crore as compared to Rs 37 crore in FY18.

After Vedantu, this will be the second investment for Tiger Global in an edtech firm since its re-entry in the Indian startup ecosystem in October 2018.

During the fifteen months, the New York-based hedge fund has invested in over two dozen startups, including UrbanClap, NoBroker, MyGate, Ninjacart, Moglix, and OkCredit.