Indian edtech giant Byju’s raises $250 million, on track to close another $700 million

Byju’s has raised $250 million and is close to securing about $700 million more, two people familiar with the matter said, as the Indian edech giant builds up its war chest ahead of the highly-anticipated IPO of its subsidiary Aakash.

The New York-headquartered investment firm Davidson Kempner has invested $250 million in Byju’s via structured instruments, the people said, requesting anonymity as the information is not public. The firm is finalizing remainder of the capital from a sovereign fund, the people said.

The remainder of the capital, expected to arrive in within two weeks, will come into the startup as part of a convertible note that caps the valuation at $22 billion.

Byju’s has maintained its $22 billion valuation throughout the past year and a half even as numerous high-profile startups globally have had severe corrections in their value.

Davidson Kempner and Byju’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The large financing round in Byju’s comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is reeling from the funding crunch amid weakening global economy. At $22 billion valuation, Byju’s is India’s most valuable startup.

Byju’s is in advanced discussions with bankers including Citi and Goldman Sachs to go ahead with the IPO of Aakash, a physical tutor chain it acquired for nearly $1 billion two years ago, TechCrunch reported earlier.

Byju’s has received the approval from its board of directors to go ahead with the IPO of Aakash, which it acquired for nearly $1 billion last year, and it’s gearing up to file the paper work.

Indian edtech giant Byju’s raises $250 million, on track to close another $700 million by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch