Popular edtech startup Byju’s raises $30M from Belgian VC firm Verlinvest

The Bangalore-based startup has raised over US$170 million in multiple rounds from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, IFC, Sequoia India, and Sofina

Verlinvest, a large Belgian family-owned, consumer-focused, diversification investment holding company, has invested in BYJU’S, the most popular edtech startup in India. This new round will help boost BYJU’S international expansion and acquisition plans.

As per media reports, Verlinvest pumped US$30 million although the company has not made public the actual size of the deal.

The Bangalore-based startup has raised over US$170 million in multiple rounds from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (run by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg), IFC, Sequoia India, and Sofina.

Nicholas Cator, Executive Director, Verlinvest, sais, “We are very happy to partner with the talented team at BYJU’S to expand in India and abroad. A 1:1 learning experience is a dream ratio, and it is very encouraging to see that an Indian company has created a product which closely addresses this need by offering engaging and personalized learning experiences enabled by technology. We have seen a lot of edtech companies, but BYJU’S offers personalized learning to an extent which we haven’t seen in any product across the globe. We look forward to supporting the management team to expand to new markets and to further build the brand.”

Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, BYJU’S, said, “Our partnership with Verlinvest will further boost our aspiration to change the way students learn across the globe. In the last 18 months, we have witnessed exponential growth in India. While these numbers are very exciting, there is a long way to go before we can call it a revolution. The fact that we are still reaching to less than 1% of the student population, shows the immense potential and the impact we can create. In fact, our teams are continuously working towards creating learning products that will enable our efforts to make learning more accessible, engaging and personalized for students.”

Started in 2015, BYJU’S is the creator of India’s largest K-12 learning app which offers adaptive, engaging and learning programs for students in classes 4-12 (K-12) and competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT.

BYJU’s has become the most loved and preferred education app for students across age groups with 8 million users and 4,00,000 annual paid subscriptions. With an average time of 40 minutes being spent by a student on the app every day from 1,700-plus cities and towns, the BYJU’S app is making learning enjoyable and effective.

Founded in 1995, Verlinvest is a private Belgian family investment company with offices in Brussels, New York and Singapore. Verlinvest specializes in growth capital with the objective to diversify its investors’ holdings for the long term by making private investments in branded consumer companies in the F&B, retail & hospitality, consumer digital and education segments. Some of its portfolio companies include Vitacoco, Sula wines, Future group, Lazada, XSEED and Global Fashion Group.