India’s most valuable startup, the online education provider Byju’s, is in talks to raise between $400 million to $600 million and then accelerate plans for an initial public offering nest year, according to people familiar with the matter. The Bangalore-headquartered company could close the pre-IPO fundraising in a few weeks at a valuation of about $21 billion, said one of the people, asking not to be named because the details are private. The fundraising is likely to be split roughly evenly between equity and debt.
Byju’s, led by former teacher Byju Raveendran, is then aiming to file its initial IPO documents as early as the second quarter of next year, soon after the close of its financial year in March, two of the people said. It had previously looked at a timeline of 12 to 24 months. The startup and its bankers are discussing a valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion, although the final determination will depend of financial results and investors demand, the people said.
Among the banks in the talks are Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the people said. The same banks are involved in the current fundraising. Byju’s Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Citi declined to comment.
Investment bankers have also pitched alternatives such as an IPO in the U.S or a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, but those options are less likely than a listing in India, two of the people said.
India’s technology sector has soared this year, with IPO fundraising on track to reach record levels. Venture capital firms have also stepped up their investments in the country, driven in part by a Community Party crackdown in china that has made that market less hospitable.