UpGrad, a Bengaluru-based Ed-tech platform, has become the latest Unicorn of India after raising a fund of $185 million. With the latest fundraising, upGrad now reaches the valuation of $1.2 billion.
It received a total of $185 million external funding from Tamasek Holdings, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group, and IIFL.
The ed-tech platform drew $45 million from IFC in February this year and $120 million from Temasek in April.
“We are pleased with the investor interest ever since we opened up for a fundraiser, and had our maiden raise from Tamasek, followed by IFC and IIFL in the past 60 days,” Ronnie Screwvala, chairperson and co-founder of upGrad, was quoted as saying. “We will announce further updates on M&As, and unlocking value as they unfold.”
The six-year-old ed-tech platform that focuses on higher education and upskilling working courses has pushed for expansion in international markets. The upGrad offers students over 100 courses in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data science, blockchain, programming, law and finance in partnership with universities like Michigan State University, Swiss School of Business Management, Geneva, IIT Madras and IIT Delhi.
The upGrad is one of the rapidly growing Indian start-ups that has recorded skyrocketing growth in the last few quarters after Byju’s (Valuation of $1.5 billion) and SoftBank and Tiger Global-backed Unacademy (valuation of $3.44 billion). Students moving online due to the pandemic leading educational institutions to shut down is one reason for this growth.
Upgrad now aims to raise another $400 million at a valuation of $4 billion within the next couple of weeks.
With the latest developments, upGrad becomes the 21st Indian start-up to become a unicorn this year, up from 11 compared to 2020. In recent quarters, high-profile investors like Tiger Global, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Falcon Edge, and Temasek have doubled their bets on India.
