Online education start-up Byju's has raised $540 million from Naspers Ventures, a global internet and entertainment group, as the startup looks to fuel its global expansion plan.

The new round of funding is expected to value the company -- which is backed by high-profile investors like Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), IFC (a World Bank Group member) and Tencent Holdings -- at about $3.6 billion.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and private equity giant General Atlantic also participated in the round.

The latest fundraising has more than tripled Byju’s valuation from its previous round and cemented its status as one of the breakout startups from India in the past five years.

Byju's said that the new funding would be used to build new and innovative products and the company also plans to expand in international markets.

"The company has aggressive plans for international market expansion and will make bold investments in technology that will help to further personalise learning for students," the company said in a statement.

“We are happy to have prominent and long-term partners like Naspers and CPPIB on board with us," said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s. "This partnership will strengthen our ability to deliver on our vision to build the world’s largest education company."

“While near-term profitability is important for us, as a company our main focus continues to be on long-term sustainable growth. The edtech industry is undergoing massive shifts; students today want to learn through engaging and interactive methods," he added.

In the past three years, Byju’s has done more than what investors expected them to do. The company, which started out as an offline teaching centre in Bengaluru, launched an app in 2015 to increase user base and it currently offers two separate learning apps — its flagship app caters to students from Classes VI to XII, while the second targets students of Classes IV and V.

First Published:Dec 17, 2018 4:11 PM IST