Temasek, SoftBank, others pump $440m into Indian edtech firm Unacademy

Indian edtech unicorn Unacademy has closed a US$440 million funding round led by Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment firm. The fundraise, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global, values the Bengaluru-based firm at US$3.44 billion.

Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, Oyo founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, and Mirae Asset Securities also participated in the round.

Unacademy co-founders (from left) Roman Saini, Gaurav Munjal, and Hemesh Singh / Photo credit: Unacademy

Speaking about the responsibility towards customers that comes with funding, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal, wrote in a series of tweets that the company aims to constantly innovate and experiment, create value for shareholders, and not “mis-sell in an industry that is known for its bad sales tactics.”

The cash will be used to bulk up its offerings in newly launched verticals like job technology, Unacademy told Tech in Asia. Part of the funds will also go toward backing creator-led short courses and scale existing segments like test preparations and K-12.

The company said it has divided its core offerings across three verticals: Unacademy, Relevel, and Graphy. While Unacademy helps students crack career-based exams, Relevel strives to get users job-ready regardless of their educational background. Graphy will give creators the tools to build their online businesses to sell digital goods. The company said it has a base of 600,000 paying users.

Last week, Unacademy announced its acquisition of Rheo TV, a Twitch-like game-streaming platform.

With the latest round, the edtech major has raised US$860 million to date. In November 2020, Unacademy banked an undisclosed amount of funding that took its valuation to US$2 billion.

Unacademy competes with Byju’s, the world’s most-valued edtech startup, which recently bought upskilling platform Great Learning for US$600 million. Byju’s also acquired after-school learning platform Toppr for US$150 million.

See also: Edtech needs to do some soul-searching as it powers ahead

The Indian edtech space continues to scale new heights as large private equity and venture capital funds pour in millions of dollars. The market has attracted US$5 billion in funding over the past five years, according to an RBSA report. Edtech is expected to become a US$30 billion industry in the country within the next 10 years on the back of growing demand and evolving business models, according to the report.