BYJU s To Raise 200M From BlackRock T Rowe Price Sources
Summary
According to sources, BYJUs is in talks to raise $200 million in a fresh round of funding that will raise the companys valuation to $12 billion.Edtech major BYJUs is raising about $200 million (about Rs 1,483 crore) in fresh funding from investors, including BlackRock and T Rowe Price, according to sources. The sources said private equity players BlackRock and T Rowe Price are participating in the new round.BYJUs (Think & Learn Pvt Ltd) declined to comment, while comments from BlackRock and T Rowe Price could not be elicited immediately. Regulatory filings by the company to the Corporate Affairs Ministry in August had shown that the company has raised about Rs 909 crore in funding from billionaire Yuri Milner-led DST Global giving the entity 1.2 percent shareholding in the edu-tech company.In September this year, BYJUs had announced raising funds from Silver Lake and existing investors, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Owl Ventures. At that time, BYJUs had said it has seen over 20 million new students start learning from its platform for free since the lockdown (which was implemented in March).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 for $50 million and BYJUs buying WhiteHat Jr for $300 million.The BYJUs app has over 70 million registered students and 4.5 million annual paid subscriptions.