According to a source, Unacademy has raised $90-100 million in new capital in this round. Part of the funds will used for providing some angel investors a partial exit. The company did not disclose the amount it has raised in the latest round. While Tiger Global has made several bets on local startups, Dragoneer has backed major US-based startups like Uber, DoorDash, and Slack. Tiger Global invested in Byju’s this year. It is an investor in another edtech firm, Vedantu.
The five-year-old Unacademy had previously raised $260 million in two rounds this year from social media major Facebook, private equity firm General Atlantic, and SoftBank. Sequoia Capital, Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners) and Blume Ventures are some of its existing investors.
“Happy to have both Tiger and Dragoneer on board on our mission to build iconic products that democratise education and make it more accessible and affordable,” Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal tweeted.
Unacademy was valued at $500 million at the beginning of the year and the steep jump in its valuation this year is a reflection of the rapid pace of student sign-ups during the pandemic. TOI reported earlier this week that Byju’s was closing a $200-million funding round at a $12-billion valuation. Byju’s was valued at $8 billion in January.
TOI also reported in September that Unacademy’s annualised revenue run rate has increased four times since February, from $30 million to $120 million. The startup, which has primarily focused on test preparation for exams like UPSC (civil services), IIT-JEE, and medical colleges, has plans to expand into several new areas, including the K-12 segment.
On Wednesday, the company said it has over 47,000 educators. The courses are taught in more than 14 Indian languages, with students spread across 5,000 cities. It said it is conducting over 150,000 live classes on the platform every month.