Byju’s mops up Rs 363 cr in funding round led by Maitri Edtech, IIFL

Edtech major Byju’s has raised over Rs 363 crore (about USD 50 million) in funding from Maitri Edtech and IIFL’s private equity fund, according to regulatory documents. Over the past few months, Byju’s has raised funding from a slew of investors that has placed the edtech major among the most-valued start-ups in the country. Byju’s is estimated to have raised about USD 2.3 billion in funding so far with valuation touching USD 16.5 billion.

According to Registrar of Companies filing shared by market intelligence firm Tofler, Maitri EdTech Special Opportunities Fund LLC pumped in Rs 108.49 crore. IIFL Special Opportunities Fund-Series 8 invested Rs 174.97 crore, while IIFL Monopolistic Market Intermediaries Fund pumped in Rs 79.99 crore into Byju’s, it added. “…in order to meet further funding requirements for business expansion, the company proposes to offer and issue Series-F Compulsorily Convertible Cumulative Preference Shares (Series F CCCPS) of face value of Rs 10 each, at a securities premium of Rs 2,85,061.62 per Series F CCCPS under private placement,” the document said.

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The company intends to raise an amount of Rs 363,46,63,156 by way of issue of Series F CCCPS, it added. The resolution was passed by the shareholders on June 17, as per the document. Byju’s did not respond to queries on the matter. Last week, ADQ Head of VC and Technology Mayank Singhal mentioned investing in Byju’s in a Linkedin post. He, however, had not specified the quantum of investment made in the edtech company. Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which operates Byju’s, is backed by marquee investors like Mary Meeker, Yuri Milner, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and others.

In April this year, Byju’s had acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) to bolster its presence in the test preparation segment in the country in an estimated USD 1-billion deal. The edtech major had also bought coding training platform WhiteHat Jr for USD 300 million last year. Launched in 2015, Byju’s has well over 80 million students cumulatively learning from the app, 5.5 million annual paid subscriptions, and an annual renewal rate of 86 per cent. During April-September 2020, Byju’s had added 45 million new students to its platform. The edtech space has seen strong growth globally with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point.

While a number of players have raised fresh funding from investors, consolidation is also being seen in the industry with deals like Unacademy acquiring PrepLadder and Byju’s acquisition of AESL.