Indian edtech startups have enjoyed the new opportunities brought by the COVID-19 lockdown, and have managed to attract attention from investors throughout the world. Bengaluru based education startup-Unacademy, is one of them as it now sits at a $1.5 billion valuation, after receiving $150 million in a Series F funding round led by Softbank’s Vision Fund 2.
Other existing investors, Facebook, General Atlantic, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, and Blume Ventures also took part in this round of funding.
This comes after the sudden growth spurt brought in the Indian edtech market by the coronavirus pandemic. The Indian populace, which is usually hesitant to spend money online, has welcomed this new mode of education with open arms, as more and more schools are coping with COVID 19 and re-opening seems distant. This has allowed Unacademy, a platform that provides live classes, practice, and revision tests for its users, bundled with the comfort of learning anytime, anywhere, to enroll 350,000 paying subscribers for a premium service it launched last year.
Other than the paid service, Unacademy has also managed to grow its overall user base, with 30 million registered users to date.
Moreover, it also managed to acquire PrepLadder, another edtech startup, for $50 million and assumed full control of its rival.
This astonishing increase in demand has led to the company eclipsing the $400 million valuation it was given during its Series E funding round in February, totally justifying the now-billion-dollar valuation.
The increased demand and willingness of people to pay has also enticed investors to show interest in the Indian edtech market, which is seeing various multi million dollar investments. In August, Byju’s raised $122 million from DST Global, lifting its valuation to more than $10 billion. The platform has amassed over $550 million this year in fundraising, making it the largest education startup in the world. Moreover, the Chan Zuckerberg initiative also announced participation in a $113 million funding round for Eruditus, which boasts a presence in about 80 nations throughout the world, offering more than 100 executive-level courses to students.
Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Unacademy, in a tweet said, “Our goal always has been to democratize knowledge and make it more affordable and accessible by getting the best experts of the world help everyone achieve their goals”.
Unacademy Group has raised $150M in a round led by Softbank valuing us at $1.45B post the funding. Great to have them onboard as a partner in our journey.
Our existing investors General Atlantic, Sequoia India, Nexus, Facebook and Blume also participated in the round.
— Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) September 2, 2020
