Byju's raises $350 million, becomes most-valued Indian startup

 Byju's raises $350 million, becomes most-valued Indian startup

Ed-tech major Byju's has raised about $350 million in latest funding round, becoming India's most-valued startup with a valuation of $16.5 billion.

The company raised funds from UBS Group, Blackstone, Abu Dhabi's ADQ, Zoom founder Eric Yuan's family office and Phoenix Rising - Beacon Holdings, the Economic Times reported, 

citing the company's filings with Registrar of Companies.

Byju's was valued at $16.5 billion in the funding round, making it India's most-valuable startup by going past Paytm, which has a valuation of $16 billion.

The fund raising is part of $1.5 billion the company started raising in April, the publication quoted sources as saying.

As per the filings, the company raised $1 billion in April from investors like Baron Funds, B Capital Group and XN Exponent Holding, along with existing investors.

The company has been on an acquisition spree recently. It acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) for around $1 billion in April.

Launched in 2015, Byju's has over 80 million students cumulatively learning from the app, 5.5 million annual paid subscriptions, and an annual renewal rate of 86 per cent. During April-September 2020, Byju's added 45 million new students to its platform.