Byju’s amasses $122 mn from Yuri Milner’s DST Global

By Narinder Kapur

  • 27 Aug 2020
Credit: 123RF.com

Education-technology major Byju’s has raised $122 million (Rs 901.6 crore at current exchange rates) in funding from DST Global, according to multiple media reports.

The capital infusion from DST Global – floated by Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner – has come as a tranche of its ongoing Series F funding round, digital media publication Entrackr reported, citing regulatory filings.

DST Global will hold a 1.2% stake in the company after the transaction is completed, the report said.

The fundraise comes exactly two months after Byju’s, operated by Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd, raised an undisclosed sum from Bond Capital, a venture capital firm co-founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker.

VCCircle has reached out to Byju’s on the details of this latest fundraise and will update this report accordingly.

Byju’s is one of the country’s most heavily-funded startups, and the biggest ed-tech startup. The company raised $200 million from the US-based Tiger Global Management in January this year. The funding round valued the company at $8 billion.

Byju’s valuation had crossed $5 billion after it raised $31.3 million in a funding round in March last year led by existing investors General Atlantic and Tencent Holdings Ltd. In December 2018, Byju’s had secured $540 million in a round led by South African tech conglomerate Naspers.

According to VCCEdge, the data research arm of Mosaic Digital, the company reported consolidated net sales of Rs 1,305.92 crore for the financial year ended March 2019. It also reported losses of Rs 8.83 crore for the same period.

The company has made at least six acquisitions with the aim of expanding its product portfolio and business. Earlier this month, it acquired WhiteHat Jr for $300 million (Rs 2,247 crore) in a deal that has given blockbuster exits to investors such as Nexus Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and Owl Ventures.

Previously, Byju’s had bought math learning platform Math Adventures in 2018 and Pearson-owned Tutorvista and Edurite as part of a single deal in 2017.