Eruditus almost Unicorn with Zuckerberg funding

Bengaluru: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan’s philanthropic organisation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has invested in education technology startup Eruditus, its second capital infusion into an Indian firm. People close to the development told ET that the funding is part of Eruditus’ ongoing Series-D round that will see the company raising around $100 million at a post-money valuation of about $800 million.The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) confirmed it had invested in the Mumbai-based startup, without disclosing details. “Eruditus has a proven track record of increasing access to education globally in partnership with leading universities,” said Vivian Wu, managing partner, Ventures at CZI. “We are particularly excited about their continued innovation in bringing these high-quality programs to emerging markets, in local languages and with top regional universities,” Wu added.The deal, which will close soon, is expected to double its valuation from the $400 million in January 2019, when it had raised $40 million led by Sequoia India. It will also make the executive education firm among the top valued ed-tech startups in the country.ET could not immediately ascertain the identity of the other new investors participating in the funding round, except that they are both US-based organisations.Ashwin Damera, the co-founder and CEO of Eruditus, declined to comment on its latest funding round. Its latest investment in Eruditus comes amid high growth, partially boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the company’s path to profitability. Damera told ET that the company had been profitable in the April-June quarter, and expects to post a “substantial profit” in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. “We haven’t seen 3X or 5X growth like others because we do a paid product and our price points are higher, but we’re doubling,” said Damera. “Last year, we did $100 million in revenues, this year we will do $200 million.”

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