Unicorn has reportedly garnered $225 million in a fresh round of funding at a valuation of $2.25 billion.
The Mumbai-based company offers, from test prep to study abroad, and undergrad degrees to campus courses in 250 universities. Its offerings include finance, law, business and software for the 18-60 age group. Screwvala founded UpGrad in 2015 with Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli to offer short courses on entrepreneurship and data science. The founders combined own about 55% of the equity.
UpGrad, a unicorn has now almost doubled its valuation. The report suggests that the investment round may expand by an additional $100 million during a second closing, at a higher valuation.
The Edtech firm has raised capital at a time when startups are seeing a slowdown in funding. The platform, according to the report, is targeting $500 million in gross revenue this year ending March 2023.
India is a major market for the edtech unicorn but it has also forayed into Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Middle East.
“Global edtech consolidation is on the cards and we’ll build a $30 to $40 billion higher-ed company,” Screwvala said. “We plan to have an IPO in about two years — for solidly built companies, there’s no good or bad time for an IPO.”
Investors in the round include James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, US testing and assessment provider Educational Testing Service, the family offices of Lakshmi Mittal (ArcelorMittal SA), and Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel), Bloomberg has reported.
The investment round also saw the participation of upGrad’s existing investors such as Temasek Holdings Pte.
