An exciting edtech giant announced a funding of USD 800 million
Another round of funding was done for an edtech giant. This industry is going high and will be proving its potential in the coming time.
Let us talk about the edtech industry and how it is showing such progress. To define the edtech industry in a layman’s language is simple, its education+ technology. The use of technological advancements in the domain of education and learning is the edtech industry. The education history started with the guru and shishya culture, where the guru was the ultimate source of education and learning for a shishya.
Then came government education, which later proved inefficient when the private sector came into. With the private sector came up our computers, introduced the children to the world. The education bought a revolution, a change, we got to know about our history, our culture, our politics, and whatnot. Education today is the basic foundation required for a child to step into this world.
We all know that COVID 19 forced us all back to our homes, making lives abnormal. The offices found a way to work online, but what about the students? Schools and colleges were closed, so the future of our students somewhere looked bleak. But then came technology to the rescue. No one had imagined the potential the technology might be able to bring to the table.
With the edtech industry in full swing, students were able to go back to their studies. With technology, placements in colleges also happened, as the interviews and tests were taken online. The edtech industry has given something new to the world, which no one could have thought back to 20 years ago.
Besides this, edtech during the times of pandemic had become an amazing source of employment. The industry is playing a crucial role in supporting the economy by making investments and creating new jobs. The edtech industry proved itself to be one of the safest and highly rewarding options for a career.
According to the “Edtech Market- Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size, and Forecasts up to 2027, Dublin”, report, the value of the global edtech industry in the year 2021 was around USD 85 billion and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 17% from 2021 to 2027, and reach USD 218 billion by the year 2027.
In this report, the companies which were taken into consideration were Byju’s, Blackboard, Inc, Chegg, Inc, Coursera, Inc, Edutech, edX, Inc, Google LLC, Instructure, Inc, upGrad Education Pvt Ltd, and Udacity, Inc. The analysis was done in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and ROW. According to the findings of the report, the drivers of the global edtech industry were-.
Increasing investments in the edtech industry and the rising preference for digital learning.
The risks in the edtech industry are linked with cyber security.
The opportunities in the edtech industry are provided by technological investments.
Now, if we come to the edtech industry of our country, India, the market value of the edtech industry is USD 2.8 billion and is expected to reach USD 10.4 billion by the end of the year 2025. Currently, around 9043 edtech startups operating, with the growing number of smartphone users (which were 700 million in the year 2020) and the increasing penetration of the internet (which were 743.19 million as of March 2020) in the country.
Let us now discuss the funding of an edtech giant that has taken place recently and has taken the value of the edtech giant to another level. On March 03, 2022, the edtech startup, Milo has raised USD 23 million in a round of funding that was led by Anthos Capital. Then on March 10, 2022, another edtech startup Mentor Match has raised USD 1 million in funding. That round of funding was led by a US-based seed-stage VC fund, Sapient Fund.
Announcement of funding of an edtech giant
The edtech giant, Byju’s has raised funds worth USD 800 million, which is almost equivalent to INR 6000 crore, as announced on March 11, 2022. The founder and the CEO of the startup, Byju Raveendran, took part in this round of financing and contributed USD 400 million. The other investors who were the participants of this round of funding were Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and Black rock.
The startup is planning to make use of the funds raised for the general business purpose of startup. The value of the startup after this round of funding had increased to USD 22 billion from USD 18 billion when it was last valued. After making an investment of USD 400 million in the startup, the stake of Byju Raveendran has increased from 22 per cent to 25 per cent in the startup.
Last year, in October, the startup had raised nearly USD 300 million in a round of funding of a more considerable investment. The investors who took part in that round of funding were Oxshott Venture Fund and Edelweiss Private Investments Trust. The value of the startup after that round of funding had increased to USD 18 billion.
About the edtech giant that has announced its funding
Founded in the year 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath and has its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The startup is the largest edtech company in the country and is the creator of the most loved school learning application in the country. The platform of the startup is engaged in providing highly personalized and effective learning programs for classes 1-12 and aspirants of competitive exams like JEE, IAS, NEET, and many others.
The goal of the startup is to create a personalized learning experience for every type of learner. It provides students a learning platform where they can learn, engage, and be excited about finding their path to discover the world. It brings together the best teachers, technology, content, media for creating a seamless, world-class learning experience for every student.
The three pillars of the startup are Personalized Learning Journeys. Personalized Learning is the foundation of the unique program the startup has for its students. Using graphs of knowledge, the program adapts and creates personalized learning journeys for students. It provides comprehensive coverage of more than 1 lakh concepts with animated videos and questions, fun quizzes, and flashcards.
Personal learning profiles of the students are created which are based on the progress of the students which in turn help analyze the strengths and areas of improvement. In case of failure or errors, motivational methods are generated to provide strength and improve the learning experience of the students.
The important features of the learning program of the startup are-
- They are interactive and engaging learning modules
- They have visually rich content to make sure that the concepts are cleared for a lifetime
- They have personalized learning programs designed for every student, enabled by the power of data science
Talking about the previous rounds of funding of Byju’s, they are as follows-
In the year 2013, the startup raised funds in seed funding from Aarin Capital
Then till the year 2019, the startup had raised USD 785 million from various investors like Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Tencent, IFC, CPPIB, Lightspeed Ventures, General Atlantic, and many others.
In March 2018, the startup had become a unicorn, and of the value of USD 1 billion
In June 2020, the startup had earned a status of decacorn
In November 2020, the startup had raised USD 200 million from BlackRock and T.Rowe Price. The value of the startup after this was USD 12 billion.
In March 2021, the startup had raised USD 460 million in a Series F round of funding
In April 2021, the startup earned an investment of USD 1 billion from B Capital, Baron Funds, and XN Exponent Holdings
In June 2021, the startup had raised USD 50 million in a Series F round of funding from Maitri edtech and the private equity fund of IIFL
In October 2021, the startup had raised USD 296 million as a part of a Series F round of funding from XN Exponent Holdings, Oxshott Venture Fund, MarketX Ventures, Verition Fund, and Edelweiss Group.
The startup has more than 150 million learners on its platform (with 115 million registered students and 7.5 million annual paid subscriptions), has an annual renewal rate of 86 per cent, and a net promoter score of 76. The startup in the year 2021 became the most valuable unicorn in the country, where it left Paytm of value USD 16 billion behind.
The sources have revealed that the startup is planning to go public this year in the US but is also keeping India as an option. The startup is expecting to reach a revenue of USD 3 billion in the year 2023. It has already crossed the revenue of USD 1.5 billion.
The startup in the year 2021 has won the award of Times 100 Most Influential Companies’
In the year 2020, it won Boston Consulting Group Tech Challengers.
In the year 2019, the startup won Financial Times Boldness in Business Award and was on the 175th rank of 2019 technology Fast Asia Pacific 500 ranking of Deloitte.
About the founder of the edtech giant- Byju Raveendran
Byju Raveendran was born in 1981 in Azikode, Kannur, Kerala. He is a bachelor of technology graduate from Government College of Engineering, Kannur. The Indian billionaire has been awarded various awards and recognitions. Some of them are-
The Indian Express IT Awards, 2017
Manorama News Newsmaker Award, 2019
Ernst and Young Finalist, Entrepreneur of the Year, India, and Winner of Business Transformation Award, 2020
Fortune Magazine’s ‘40 under 40’ list, 2020
Forbes India Leadership Award (FILA) Entrepreneur of the Year, 2021
The edtech giant, Byju’s has become a massive brand. It is news almost daily for some funding or acquisition. It has changed the face of education. We wish the startup a bit of good luck and hope it just to go ahead strongly and fiercely.
edited and proofred by nikita sharma
