Byju’s bags another $150 million to fund its acquisition spree

• The round was led by Asmaan Ventures, with participation from Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore.
• Asmaan Ventures got to invest in Byju’s at a discounted valuation of $14.5 billion, whereas the others have valued the company at $16.87 billion.
• The round appears to be a first tranche of a larger billion dollar round that Byju’s has been reportedly in talks for.

After raising close to $1.3 billion over the last eighteen months, Byju’s is ready to raise funds again. The company has passed a special resolution to raise ₹1,094 crore or about $150 million led by Asmaan Ventures.

According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings, Byju’s has allotted 6,045 Series F preference shares to Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore. Each of these shares cost ₹285,072.

Meanwhile, the company has allotted 38,705 Series F preference shares to Asmaan Ventures. These shares were given at a discount rate of ₹238,125 per share.

Firm	Investment
Asmaan Ventures	₹921.7 crore
Mirae Asset	₹138 crore
ARK Ncore	₹34.5 crore

The development was first reported by Entrackr, which also revealed that Byju’s has raised this tranche at a post-money valuation of $16.87 billion.

However, Asmaan Ventures’ has picked up shares at a discounted valuation of $14.5 billion. Mirae and Ark have made their investments, reportedly, at a $16.87 billion valuation.

Business Insider has reached out to Byju’s seeking more information about this round.

According to media reports published last month, Byju’s has been in talks to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of over $21 billion valuation. The latest investment is expected to be the first tranche of the larger billion dollar round.

The development comes only a few hours after Byju’s announced the acquisition of online exam preparation startup Gradeup. Post this acquisition, Gradeup would be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep and will cater to students preparing for over 150 exams across 25 exam categories.

Meanwhile, Byju’s claims to have over 6.5 million paid subscribers and over 100 million users in general. The company has acquired five businesses in 2021 in order to further expand its business both nationally and internationally.

The biggest acquisition of the company has been Aakash Educational Services, which Byju’s bought for $1 billion earlier this year. It acquired rival Toppr, US-based reading platform Epic, Singapore-based upskilling platform Great Learning, and augmented reality company Whodat.

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