Posted by Mumbai: Unacademy has become the newest unicorn of India after it raised $150 million funding from Japan’s Softbank this week.
With that, the Bangalore edtech startup has joined the league of unicorns in India, according to GlobalData.
Softbank announced a fresh funding round of $150 million on September 2, 2020, which helped to push Unacademy’ valuation over the $1 billion mark.
Unacademy’s valuation witnessed a three-fold jump to reach $1.5 billion from little over $500 million in February this year.
The Softbank led latest funding round also saw participation of other investors such as General Atlantic, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Blume Ventures and Facebook.
According to Aurojyoti Bose, GlobalData’s Lead Analyst, several areas or companies with a clear value proposition and enhanced relevance during this COVID-19 pandemic are witnessing renewed interest.
“Edtech is one such area, which has been gaining significance with enhanced use of online platforms and investors are also seeing it as a promising area,” said Bose.
“Edtech companies such as Unacademy have been successful in raising sizeable funding in 2020, which is also a testimony to growing investor traction in this space,” he added.
Unacademy is the second Indian edtech startup after Byju’s to enter into the unicorn club in India. It has a vast network comprising more than 350,000 subscribers and 18,000 teachers and the fresh funding will enable it to recruit new talent and expand its service offerings.
The timing of Unacademy becoming a new unicorn in India is of no less importance as well.
“It has come amidst the concerns that the government’s efforts to curb Chinese investments may have a detrimental impact on the country’s startup ecosystem makes it even more significant,” commented Bose.
“Interestingly, the latest investment in Unacademy does not involve any Chinese investor,” he concluded.