Singapore sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, has invested an additional $60 million in education startup Upgrad, at a valuation of $2.25 billion. This comes after recent reports that the wealth fund has picked a 17-18 stake in visa consular company, VFS Global.
Meanwhile, Upgrad founder and chairman Ronnie Screwvala bought out Bharti Enterprises’ stake in the firm for $20 million, which amounted to 1 per cent stake, according to a report in The Economic Times.
Srewvala now owns a 45 per cent stake in Upgrad, and is planning to take the company public in the next 7-8 quarters. Temasek and IFC are among the top investors in the company, the report added.
The report stated, citing sources, that Upgrad is currently doing a quarterly revenue of around Rs 600-crore, translating to about Rs 2,400 crore, for the ongoing financial year.
Upgrad’s total funding round of $80 million is the third largest funding in the edtech sector, even as broader stress continues in the sector. Before this equity funding, Upgrad had closed a $35 million debt financing from Evolution X, a joint venture between DBS and Temasek, the report added.
Upgrad was founded in 2015 by Ronnie Srewvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli. In 2021, Upgrad had become a unicorn, with a valuation of $1.2 billion, with presence in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.