Eruditus becomes fourth edtech startup to enter the Unicorn club

The startup raised $650 million via a fundraiser, increasing its valuation by four times to $3.2 billion.

Edutech startup Eruditus, along with Accel and SoftBank raised $650 million via a fundraiser, increasing its valuation by four times to $3.2 billion. With this Eruditus becomes the fourth edtech and 23rd Indian startup to enter the unicorn club.

According to MoneyControl, the proceedings from the funding will be used to develop new courses, create new products and industry verticals, expand the company’s business serving governments and enterprises, double down on new geographical markets, and fund acquisitions.

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 Ashwin Damera, co-founder and chief executive officer, Eruditus told LiveMint, “Eruditus’ mission is to make high-quality education accessible and affordable to learners across the world. With this fundraiser, we’re excited to scale our unique business model, continue to deliver strong learning outcomes, and grow our global impact at a rapid rate.” 

Eruditus was founded in 2010 by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu. The edtech initially started with offline classes and gradually switched to online platforms. In FY21, the company raised $185 million against $100 million in FY20. Major investors in the company are Bertelsmann and Sequoia Capital India. Eruditus is the third edtech backed by Sequoia Capital India to reach unicorn status after Byjus and Unacademy.

Speaking about the new status Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers told MoneyControl, “With the rapid rate of technological disruption, continuous upskilling is necessary for today’s job market. The company’s partnerships with elite universities, and use of technology and data to create and deliver high-quality courses positions Eruditus to lead in this space.”