Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Higher education technology major upGrad has turned into the newest member of the unicorn club by raising a total of USD 185 million at a valuation of USD 1.2 billion.
Interestingly, its valuation has doubled in just 60 days from the first fundraiser. The higher education technology major is also in advanced talks for a USD 400 million fundraise at a valuation of USD 4 billion, reports said on Monday.
The Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech firm achieved this feat as it closed a series of fundraises from Temasek, IFC (International Finance Corporation, a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group), and IIFL, in recent past.
Reacting to the development, Srewvala said upGrad is focused on its path to being in the top 3 to 5 companies globally in the education technology space, and serving one billion workforces across the age group of 18 to 60 years.
“We are pleased with the investor interest ever since we opened up for a fundraiser, and had our maiden raise from Temasek, followed by IFC and IIFL in the last 60 days.
“We will announce further updates on mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and unlocking value as they unfold. Yes, the last value was at USD 1.2 billion, but as I keep saying, we are not a fan of the tag name unicorn – for us, it is only a means to a much larger goal,” said Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-founder, upGrad.
The edtech leader has been promoter-funded with the founder group still owning over 70 percent stake in the company.
Mumbai-based upGrad is a pioneer in the online education space, co-founded by Screwvala along with Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli. It has impacted over one million registered learners in more than 50 countries.
upGrad drives deep learning for the real world, by creating original content harnessing industry experts across the globe and offers learners a
hyper-personalized, comprehensive one-stop solution, combining the power of its proprietary AI-driven technology platform with counselors who handhold learners for the entire duration of their course.
To provide the best university quality education, upGrad brings together the world’s leading universities, faculty, and industry experts on an integrated digital platform, delivering an immersive experience with full flexibility to study at one’s own pace. upGrad’s roster of leading global universities includes Duke Corporate Education (US), Michigan State University (US), Liverpool John Moores University (UK), Deakin Business School (Australia), Swiss School of Business Management, (Geneva), IIT Madras (India), and IIM Kozhikode (India).