BYJU’S, India’s largest education technology company, today announced it has raised a new round of funding from the global technology investment firm BOND.
The Bengaluru-based company, however, did not disclose the amount raised from the latest round. Meanwhile, the investment is said to be BOND's first in India.
Commenting on the funding, Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO of BYJU'S, said in a statement,
“We are happy to partner with an investor like BOND. This partnership is a testament to the role that BYJU’S is playing in helping students learn better by customizing our platform to their abilities. It also demonstrates the rising global interest in education technology as digital learning becomes increasingly accepted and embraced.”
In response to schools being shut down due to COVID-19, BYJU’S has made content on its learning app free for all students. The company has also introduced LIVE classes to further student engagement.
“This crisis has brought online learning to the forefront and has helped parents, teachers and students alike to experience and understand the value of it,” Mr. Raveendran continued. “We have the opportunity to positively influence how teachers teach, students learn and school’s function. The ‘Classrooms of Tomorrow’ will have technology at the core, empowering students to cross over from passive to active learning. The result will be a combination of the best of both online and offline educational offerings.”
In the past year, BYJU’S has seen tremendous growth and now has over 57 million registered students, more than 3.5 million paid subscribers and annual renewal rates as high as 85%. BYJU’S doubled its revenue from INR 1430 crore to INR 2800 crore in FY 19-20.
Lauding the company as a 'clear leader in education technology', Mary Meeker, General Partner at BOND, said,
“Endorsed by millions of students, BYJU’S has emerged as a clear leader in education technology. We are excited to support a visionary like Byju and his team in their quest to continue to innovate and shape the future of education.”
The COVID-19-triggered lockdown has made BYJU'S had a busy year in terms of adding new users to its platform. In March and April alone, the company has added 13.5 million consumers to its platform. This is a huge number indeed.
Meanwhile, prior to this latest funding, BYJU'S had raised $200 million from its existing investor and New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic in February 2020, just weeks after the edtech major had raised another $200 million from Tiger Global in January.
