Edtech Startup Byju’s has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. This partnership will enable BYJU’s to further its plans to make quality education accessible to students across the country as well as in international markets, IFC said.
In September, BYJU’s had raised $50 million from a clutch of investors led by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and Sequoia Capital.
“The investment from IFC recognises our commitment to create world-class learning programmes that will make learning accessible for students across geographies. Today, almost 70% of our users come from outside the top 10 cities,” BYJU’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said.
IFC’s venture capital team has also invested in Bridge International Academics, the world’s largest chain of low-cost nursery and primary schools, and Coursera, a provider of massive open online courses (MOOC).
India is IFC’s top country exposure, globally. IFC’s committed portfolio in India is over $5 billion as of June 30, 2016.
In FY16, IFC committed $1.1 billion in new investments in India.
“Education is an important sector for IFC given its critical role in driving economic and social development in the country. Our investment in BYJU’s will help provide affordable and quality education to students through the effective use of technology innovation to drive superior learning outcomes,” IFC Regional Lead (Venture Capital Investments) Ruchira Shukla said.
