Founder Group invests $12.5m to keep 50% upGrad ownership
Singapore’s Kaizen Management Advisors Pvt Ltd along with existing investors Temasek, IFC and IIFL have participated in upGrad’s fresh round of fundraise.
The round also witnessed participation from ETS (world’s largest TOEFL & GRE Test Leader), Bodhi Tree (a JV of James Murdoch & Uday Shankar), Family office of Bharti Airtel, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office (Ambuja Cements and ACC) and Artian Investments.
The Founder Group has also invested US$12.5 million in this round to maintain their over 50% ownership in upGrad.
“There is a massive Re-skilling Revolution taking place around the world and over the last 5 years our 4,800+ colleagues have worked hard and smart to be at the epicenter of taking advantage of this, not just in India but around the world,” said upGrad Co-founders Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar in a joint statement while commenting on the fund raise.
“We welcome our new investors and industry veterans to the upGrad cap table. Higher EdTech will be on the rise for the next 4 to 5 decades.
“In the last 12 months upGrad has re-shaped itself to be the most integrated company in this space with career opportunities for the College learners and Working Professionals from the age of 18 to 58 and will be a LifeLongLearning partner for millions in the coming years.
“We have always been very capital efficient while growing 100% year-on-year and hope to retain that discipline,” the duo said on 15 Aug 2022.
“upGrad is a leader in digital reskilling and upskilling in India, and rapidly becoming a worldwide leader in this burgeoning education area,” said ETS Strategic Capital Managing Director Ralph Taylor-Smith.
“We are excited to invest in, and partner with, upGrad to help accelerate its growth. India continues to be a priority country for ETS, and we are dedicated to strategically increasing our footprint in this key market.
“Our partnership with upGrad will help to advance our shared mission of providing educational opportunities for all learners, in the South Asia region and around the globe.”
upGrad team strength will grow to 7,600 from the present 4,800 in the next 3 months and will also include about 170 full-time faculty, 1,600 teachers, and over 5,000 on-contract coaches and mentors, thereby building one of the largest full-time Edtech faculty in the world.
Bucking the slowdown trend within the sector, upGrad has remained bullish with its program completion rate of 80%+ and has emerged as a global leader in the higher education segment.
Forty per cent of the company’s total revenue is realised from Repeats and Referrals year-on-year.
upGrad, started in 2015, is a pioneer in the online education revolution, focused on powering career success for a global workforce of over 1.3 billion. fiinews.com
