Byju’svaluationjumpsto$2billion

The valuation of online tutorial start-up Byju's has reached $2 billion following a $100-million investment by private equity player General Atlantic (GA) in a single tranche for a 5 per cent stake, sources aware of the deal confirmed.

The transaction marks GA's first investment in the education space in India. Founded three years ago, Bengalurubased Byju’s, led by CEO Byju Raveendran, is India’s largest education technology start-up and has crossed the ~1-billion monthly revenue mark.

Raveendran, a mechanical engineer by training, is looking to close the financial year with a revenue target of ~14 billion. The firm began as an offline teaching centre and later launched an app to widen student enrolment. Currently, it designs learning apps for students of Classes IV, V, VI, and VII, and on preparatory courses for CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT exams. The firm aims to teach students by making its content interactive, visually animated as opposed to “learning by rote”.

A venture capitalist pointed to Byju's well-organised sales and marketing teams, which actually fix appointments and visit parents homes while demonstrating how their product adds value. “Parents find it hard to say no to a product that may help their kids do better at school. India has an exam-oriented culture and preparation for this drives the business," he said. India has a student population of roughly 300 million, which forms a potential market for Byju's. Emails sent to General Atlantic and Byju's did not elicit any response. General Atlantic's other investments have typically been around financial technology ventures and businesses, which connect closely with consumers. These include the House of Anita Dongre, IndusInd Bank, PNB Housing Finance, Ching's Secret, KIMS Hospitals, Billdesk, and IIFL Wealth & Asset Management.

Byju's app has 20 million registered students and 1.26 million annual paid subscribers. The online tutoring firm, which employs over 2000 employees, has a product division of 800 members. It has in the past acquired online educational platforms Vidyartha, Edurite, and Tutorvista.

Byju's has so far raised money from investors, including the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital India, Sofina, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Belgiumbased Verlinvest, Tencent, Times Internet. Other companies in the same space are Coursera, and Toppr.