NEW DELHI, Dec 20: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today said it has invested an undisclosed amount in online education startup BYJU’s.
This partnership will enable BYJU’s to further their plans to make quality education accessible for students across the nation as well as in international markets, International Finance Corporation (IFC) said in a statement.
In September, BYJU’s had raised USD 50 million (about USD 332.3 crore) from a clutch of investors, led by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and Sequoia Capital.
BYJU’s has also raised USD 9 million from Aarin Capital in 2013, followed by Series B funding of USD 25 million from Sequoia Capital last year and a USD 75 million fund raise from Sequoia Capital and Sofina earlier this year.
“The investment from IFC recognises our commitment to create world-class learning programs that will make learning accessible for students across geographies. Today, almost 70% of our users come from outside the top 10 cities,” BYJU’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said.
To further accelerate reach in the deeper parts of India, BYJU’s is planning to add channel partners across the country, he added.
IFC’s venture capital team has also invested in Bridge International Academics, the world’s largest chain of low-cost nursery and primary schools, and Coursera, a provider of massive open online courses (MOOC).
India is IFC’s top country exposure, globally. IFC’s committed portfolio in India is over USD 5 billion as of June 30, 2016.
In FY16, IFC committed USD 1.1 billion in new investments in India.
“Education is an important sector for IFC given its critical role in driving economic and social development in the country. Our investment in BYJU’s will help provide affordable and quality education to students through effective use of technology innovation to drive superior learning outcomes,” IFC Regional Lead (Venture Capital Investments) Ruchira Shukla said. (PTI)
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