Edtech major Byju's to raise up to $700 million funding at a valuation of $15 billion, says reports

• The potential fundraise would help Byju's in acquiring edtech rival Aakash Educational Services for $600-700 million.
• To date, Byju's has acquired three edtech firms --- TutorVista, Osmo, and Whitehat Jr.
• In July 2020, Byju's had acquired online coding startup Whitehat Jr. for $300 million.

Bengaluru-based edtech major Byju's, which raised billion-dollar funding last year, is in another attempt of raising funds. According to the reports, Byju's is in talks with several new and existing investors to raise $600-700 million in a fresh funding round at a valuation of around $15 billion. Currently, Byju's valuation stood at $12 billion.

The potential fundraise would help the company in fueling the fourth acquisition of edtech rival Aakash Educational Services, the deal is estimated to be worth around $700 million.

Incepted in 1998, Aakash Educational Services Limited runs a chain of brick-and-mortar test preparation coaching centers. In October 2019, Blackstone Group had acquired a 37.5% stake in AESL for Rs 1,350 crore.

According to the reports, the edtech major is in talks with new and existing investors from the Middle East and the United States, including Baring Partners, B Capital, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, and existing investors --- Qatar Investment Authority, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Naspers, and Sequoia.

It was reported that Byjus has been in talks with AESL since January for the acquisition deal worth $1 billion. Last year, Byju's has raised over $1.1 billion in funding from various investors, including Silver Lake, DST Global, General Atlantic, Bond, Tiger Global Management, Black Rock, others. To date, Byju's has raised over $2.1 billion in funding.

So far, Byju's has acquired three edtech firms including US-based Osmo for $120 million in 2019, TutorVista, Edurite from Pearson in 2017, and Whitehat Jr. for $300 million in 2020. Earlier in February 2021, Byju's was in talks to acquire its edtech rival Toppr for $150 million in a cash-stock deal.

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