The funding chart of Byju’s – the startup that gave Mark Zuckerberg a 7X return on investment and is worth $8 billion

• Byju’s raised funds from General Atlantic, Tiger Global to be valued at a whopping $8.2 billion.
• It also gave partial exit to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Times Internet and Sequoia.
• Here’s a breakdown of how Byju’s has seen phenomenal growth over the years.

In 2011, a 29-year old Byju Raveendran cracked the Common Admission Test (CAT) with 100 percentile, but didn’t join an IIM. What he did instead was build an online tutoring company. Today, the unicorn startup worth $8.2 billion, with Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador.

Founded by Byju and his wife Divya Gokulnath, Byju’s recently raised $200 million from the private equity firm General Atlantic. Last year, Byju became the newest face in the Forbes Billionaire list, with a net worth of $1.9 billion.


2013

Byju’s first funding in 2013 came from Aarin Capital, which is run by Ranjan Pai and Mohandas Pai. It was a series A funding.

2015

The next round saw the entry of Sequoia Capital. Byju’s raised the Series B round at $25 million. Later in the same year, it launched the Byju’s app.

2016

In 2016, Byju’s raised four rounds of funding, quickly rising in the valuation charts. It raised money from Sequoia, Innoven Capital, Sofina Group, Times Internet and the International Finance Corporation, which is a World Bank Group.

In the same year, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s funding arm – Chan Zuckerberg initiative led a $50 million round and boost the startup’s value to $462 million.

2017

Verlininvest, a family office based in Brussels, came on the board of Byju’s. Its valuation touched $600 million. In the meanwhile its growth with 300,000 annual paid subscribers helped turn it into a case study in Harvard. In the same year, Byju’s signed Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador. Its reported valuation was at $800 million.

2018

In 2018, Byju’s turned into a unicorn – becoming the first edtech company to achieve it in India. With its valuation crossing $1 billion, the startup becoming the 11th unicorn of the country in all. It received funding from General Atlantic, Naspers, and Tencent.

2019

This year turned out to be another milestone for Byju’s – it turned profitable. The startup reported that its revenue has tripled to reach ₹14.3 billion in the financial year ending March 2019. These swollen revenues come at the back of increase in its paid user base, which stood at 2.4 million. The number doubled from 2018, when it was 1.26 million.

In 2019, Byju’s also secured an investment of $150 million from Qatar Investment Authority and Owl Ventures. According to reports, Byju’s was valued at $5.7 billion. “Indian ed-tech firms attracting interest from eminent investors demonstrates that India is pioneering the digital learning space globally. High adoption and 85% annual renewal from small towns and cities shows increasing acceptance of digital learning as a primary tool for learning at home,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s had then said in a statement.

In 2019, Byju also became a billionaire – to enter the Forbes Billionaires list.

2020

Come 2020, and Byju’s raised funds from General Atlantic, Tiger Global to be valued at a whopping $8.2 billion. A statement from the company said that Byju’s is on track to earn a little more than $420 million by the end of March 2020.

Through the latest rounds, the Chan Zuckerberg initiative took home ₹167.7 crore through a partial exit. The fund’s investment of ₹22.86 crore in September 2016 is now worth at least seven times more. The same deal also gave handsome returns to Sequoia, Times Internet and SCHF PV Mauritius.

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Byju Raveendran is the newest face on the Forbes list of 100 richest Indians