Exclusive: Teachmint in talks to raise fresh funds at over $500 Mn valuation

Edtech startup Teachmint is in talks with new and existing investors to raise a new round that will push the company’s valuation to half a billion dollars, said two sources aware of the matter. This will be the third round for the Bengaluru-based firm in 2021.

“Teachmint is raising over $70 million in a new round at over $500 million valuation from new and existing backers including Learn Capital and Lightspeed,” said one of the sources on the condition of anonymity.

If the round goes through, Teachmint’s valuation would have jumped over 2.5X in just three months and 7X in five months. In June, the company raised a pre-Series B round at an estimated valuation of $200 million while it was valued at $70 million during its Series A round, as per Fintrackr’s estimate.

“New investors are likely to put in $30-40 million followed by existing investors,” said the second source. “The round could go upto $90 million as inbound interest from investors in the company is very high.”

Entrackr couldn’t ascertain the names of new investors.

Teachmint declined to comment on the story. Queries sent to Lightspeed did not elicit any immediate response. We will update the story in case they respond.

Teachmint’s USP and competitors

Following the potential deal, Teachmint will become the fifth most valued edtech startup after Byju’s, Unacademy, Eruditus and upGrad.

Over the past 18 months, edtech companies in India have outnumbered every other segment in terms of raising funds and gaining traction. As a result, Byju’s has become the highest valued startup in India while Unacademy, Eruditus and UpGrad made their way into the coveted club of unicorns.

Founded in mid-2020, Teachmint has since powered over a million educators across 5,000 towns. Unlike most edtech startups, the company has built its own stack that helps educators enable live streaming and virtual classes.

According to sources, its own stack gives an advantage over competitors as it saves a significant amount of money for them.

Teachmint directly competes with Google-funded Cuemath and Tiger Global-backed Classplus. Noida-based Classplus recently closed its $65 million Series C round at an estimated valuation of $200 million while Cuemath is reportedly eyeing $ 1 billion in valuation.

Besides funding activities, the edtech space has lately witnessed some massive consolidation activities: around three dozen mergers and acquisitions in the last two years. Byju’s alone has acquired more than 15 startups followed by Unacademy, which has absorbed 10 startups since its inception. Vedantu has also acquired Instasolv and Pedagogy in 2021.