UpGrad raises Rs 300 Cr from existing backers

Edtech platform upGard has announced that it has raised Rs 300 crore via right issue from Temasek and Ronnie Screwvala among others. This is the first fundraise of the Mumbai-based unicorn in 2023.

upGrad co-founder and chairperson Screwvala invested Rs 212 crore while existing backer Temasek infused Rs 81 crore. The rest came from other minority stakeholders, the company disclosed in a press release.

The company is focused on its organic and in-organic growth across multiple verticals of formal education via degree, diploma, and doctorate courses in partnership with the best universities. upGrad is also focused on a large segment of Skilling, Short-Certification courses, Bootcamps, and Job-linked programs coupled with the fast-growing sector of Study Abroad. The company claims to have completed 22,000 placements in FY23.

upGrad has raised over $600 million to date. In August last year, it raised $210 million from ETS Global, Bodhi Tree and Singapore-based Kaizen Management Advisors at a post money valuation of $2.25 billion.

It also announced its foray into the offline higher education space in November and  said it was investing $30 million (~Rs 246 crore) to set up ten global campuses across India, the US and other regions next year.

During FY22, upGrad’s revenue from operations jumped around 2X to Rs 679 crore from Rs 327 crore in FY21. Following the sharp rise in promotional and employee costs, the company’s losses also deepened 2.9X to Rs 627 crore during the year as compared to Rs 211 crore in FY21.

upGard expanded its ESOP Pool by 13% to Rs 2,058 crore or $260 million. Entrackr had exclusively reported about it in August 2022. UpGrad’s portfolio includes Harappa Education, Exampur, Talentedge, Study Partners, Work Better, Knowledgehut, Impartus Innovation, Rekrut India and others.