SoftBank invests in Unacademy
NEW DELHI: Edtech platform Unacademy burst into the unicorn club on Wednesday following a $150 million fundraising led by Japan’s SoftBank, with the Gaurav Munjal-led startup tripling its valuation to $1.45 billion in less than six months.
Apart from SoftBank, which invested from its Vision Fund 2, existing investors General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Facebook, and Blume Ventures also participated in the round.
“Our goal always has been to democratize knowledge and make it more affordable and accessible by getting the best experts of the world to help everyone achieve their goals,” tweeted Munjal, co-founder and chief executive officer.
The Bengaluru-based startup, which was recently named the official partner for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next three seasons, had raised money at a valuation of $510 million in February from Facebook, General Atlantic, and Sequoia. Unacademy is now India’s second-most valued edtech startup after Byju’s, which is valued at $10.5 billion. Unacademy plans to utilize the funds to launch new products and grow the organization. This also marks SoftBank’s first India investment since December, when it invested about $275 million in eyewear retailer
Lenskart. It is also SoftBank’s first bet in India’s edtech space, coming at a time the covid-19 pandemic fuels online learning worldwide.The Masayoshi Sonled investment firm has over the past year slowed down new bets globally, following the IPO debacle at portfolio firm WeWork.
According to 29-year-old Munjal, from his first virtual meeting with Son to the last, it was a smooth process that moved fast. The India SoftBank team was in touch with the Unacademy team for more than 18 months and tracking its growth, he said.
“India needs to innovate. We need to build great products, iconic global products and so, with Unacademy becoming a unicorn, I feel more responsibility. I want to make Unacademy the largest consumer internet company from India that will be in the edtech space and not e-commerce,” Munjal said over a Zoom call.