SoftBank, Accel-led $650m round puts Emeritus in unicorn club

Edtech startup Emeritus has raised US$650 million in its series E round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Accel. The fresh funds, which were made up of a mix of primary and secondary funding, bumps up the company’s valuation to US$3.2 billion, well beyond the US$1 billion unicorn threshold.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia India, Prosus, Bertelsmann, and Leeds Illuminate are some of Emeritus’ current investors.

Eruditus group co-founders Ashwin Damera (left) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu / Photo credit: Eruditus Group

Emeritus, which is the online division of global education institution Eruditus Group, will use the new capital to develop more courses, create fresh products and industry verticals, expand its business that deals with governments and enterprises, double down on new geographical markets, and fund acquisitions.

The round follows Emeritus’ recent US$200 million acquisition of Silicon Valley-based STEM education player iD Tech – a move that marked the company’s expansion into the K12 space.

“The company is looking at M&A opportunities across segments including business-to-business, new subject verticals, and across geographies,” Emeritus co-founder and CEO Ashwin Damera told Tech in Asia.

Emeritus is the second major bet by SoftBank in the Indian edtech space, which is poised to become a US$30 billion opportunity in the next 10 years. SoftBank is also an investor in online learning platform Unacademy which is currently valued at US$3.4 billion.

With the new funding, Emeritus has become the 23rd unicorn from India this year. Earlier this week, another Indian edtech player, upGrad, crossed the US$1 billion valuation mark.

Founded in 2015, Emeritus – with over 250 professional learning programs developed in partnership with more than 50 top-tier universities – has built a global upskilling platform that prepares professionals for the rapidly changing workplace.

According to the World Economic Forum, such upskilling efforts have the potential to create 5.3 million new jobs by 2030.

In the past 12 months, Emeritus has grown rapidly around the globe with more than 100% year-on-year growth and is on track to realize 0ver US$500 million in bookings this year, according to the company.

It had raised US$113 million in series D funding at a valuation of over US$700 million in August last year.