Indian online education firm eyes new funding, S$1b valuation

[DUBAI] Indian online education platform Cuemath plans to raise at least US$100 million in a new financing round this year, its chief executive said, as the company targets a valuation of US$1 billion by the end of 2022.

Education technology companies have seen an upswing in the takeup of their products and services over the past year as more people have switched to remote learning amid the pandemic.

Chief Executive and Founder Manan Khurma told Reuters Bengaluru-based Cuemath hoped to close by December a Series D funding round of at least US$100 million, which would be used to finance growth plans, including acquisitions of other platforms.

"We have interest coming in from across the globe," he said, adding that the process would start in about three months.

The fresh capital would follow the US$40 million Cuemath raised last February in a Series C round, which included investments from Lightstone Aspada and Alpha Wave Incubation, Sequoia Capital India, Manta Ray, and Alphabet Inc's independent growth fund CapitalG.

Based on its current growth trajectory, Cuemath was on track to be valued at US$1 billion in the next 12-18 months, Mr Khurma said, without disclosing the company's current valuation.

Cuemath, established in 2013, is targeting to have between 500,000 to 1 million students signed up to its math and coding platform across 50 countries by March 2022. Today, it has taught 200,000 students in over 20 countries.

The company, whose core markets are India and the United States, is formally expanding in the United Arab Emirates after 25,000 students there signed up during a soft launch earlier this year.

It is also looking at expanding into Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, Mr Khurma said.

REUTERS