Edtech major, Byju’s is in the process of raising $600-700 million in a fresh fundraising round, which is expected to increase its valuation to nearly $15 billion, according to multiple media reports. This marks the Bengaluru-based company’s first fundraising round in 2021, and the deal is expected to be signed by next week. 

“B Capital, founded by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is among the investors which are likely to come on board. Some US investors and existing backers of the company will also participate in the new round,” a source told the Economic Times (ET). 

The primary fundraising is aimed at financing Byju’s acquisition of Aakash Educational Services, which is estimated to be $700-800 million in size. While 70% of the Aakash deal is likely to be in cash and 30% through a share swap, Byju’s is gearing up to accomplish the deal in a few weeks from now, a source told ET. Besides, the company is also close to concluding a deal to buy out Mumbai-based Toppr, which will involve around $50 million in cash and the rest in stock. 

However, there is no official confirmation from Byju’s yet on the fundraising. 

Byju’s had raised over $1.5 billion in 2020 and these included: $200 million each from Tiger Global and General Atlantic; $500 million from Silver Lake and $200 million from T Rowe, BlackRock; $122 million from DST Global; $23 million from Bond venture capital firm. 

In August last year, Byju’s had acquired coding platform WhiteHat Jr for $300 million. Byju’s had said that the deal would accelerate its US expansion plans. 

Signalling strong growth during the pandemic, Byju’s said that 20 million new users registered on its platform, four months after the lockdown. The company said it had achieved Rs 2,800 crore in revenue by March 2020 and a revenue run rate of Rs 6,000 crore by July 2020.