Byju’s raises fresh funds at $18 Bn valuation

Byju’s has raised a fresh tranche of Rs 2,200 crore or $296 million from more than half a dozen investors. The Bengaluru-based company had recently picked up $150 million as a part of a new and old round from a couple of investors.

Byju’s has approved the allotment of 77,174 Series F preference shares at an issue price of Rs 285,072 per share to raise Rs 2200 crore or $296.4 million, regulatory filings show.

New York-based Oxshott Capital Partners has led the round with an infusion of Rs 1,200 crore followed by Edelweiss, XN Exponent Holdings, Verition Master Fund which invested Rs 345 crore, Rs 150 crore and Rs 147 crore respectively. MarketX Ventures, Time Capital Advisors and IIFL have pumped in the remaining amount. 

According to Fintrackr’s estimates, Byju’s has raised the tranche at around $18 billion.

Following the allotment of fresh shares, the holding stake of promoters at Byju’s has been reduced to 22.55%. It’s worth noting that the three co-founders of the company including Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Raveendran held around 22.97% stake in the company during the last tranche.

Byju’s has declined to comment on the story.

Meanwhile, Byju’s is reportedly in talks with several investors to raise $1.5 billion at an over $21 billion valuation. The company is also preparing for a public listing. As per media reports, the company may file IPO papers as early as the second quarter of next year and is looking for a valuation of $40 to $50 billion.

Byju’s had recently released its annual financial report for FY20 in which it registered an 82.31% surge in its revenue from operations to Rs 2,381 crore. During the period, its losses jumped 30 fold to Rs 262 crore. Importantly, the company was close to profitability in FY19.

The fundraise was first reported by Inc42.