Byju's raises $400 million in latest round of funding; now valued at $4 billion

Online teaching app Byju's has raised $400 million in the recent round of funding to become the fourth most valuable start-up in India. The development shows the Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd-led firm's plan to expand its overseas presence.

According to Mint, the documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show that the current investors included Canada's CPP Investment Board, Naspers Ventures, General Atlantic and some existing investors.

One of the people associated with the development said that after the current round of funding Byju's is now valued at $4 billion only behind digital payments firm Paytm (One97 Communications Pvt. Ltd), cab-hailing service Ola, and budget hotel chain Oyo Rooms.

Vinod Murali, managing partner at venture debt firm Alteria Capital reported that "A direct investment of a big pension fund into the Indian venture ecosystem is a positive sign and opens up international markets for Byju's."

He further went on to add that "Byju's style and the way the business has been built—it is transferable globally—and I expect them to use the new funds to fuel their overseas expansion plans."

Byju's has managed to secure the latest round of funding amid investors writing big cheques, reflecting a return of a funding boom in India's start-up ecosystem. Similarly, other companies in the same sector have also raised fresh funding.

Last month, another online tutoring platform, Vedantu, had raised $11 million in a funding round led by Omidyar Network. Moreover, Unacademy, which is an online learning platform, also secured $21 million in a Series C round from Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, and others.

Since its inception in 2008, Byju's has managed to raise more than $240 million from Tencent, Verlinvest, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Aarin Capital among others.

In July 2017, it had raised about $40 million from Tencent, months after it raised $30 million from Verlinvest.