Temasek invests US$120m in India's UpGrad

TEMASEK Holdings has invested US$120 million in edtech major UpGrad Education in its first-ever round of external funding. 

In a press statement issued on Monday, the Mumbai-based startup said it intended to use the capital proceeds to further strengthen its team, scale its global market operations, bolster its technology and product capabilities, as well as pursue merger and acquisition opportunities. 

UpGrad - which offers over a hundred courses to registered learners based in more than 50 countries through its eponymous online platform - said it also intends to expand its graduate and postgraduate degree portfolio in India with the fresh funding. 

Credit Suisse acted as the exclusive financial adviser to upGrad for the deal, while Rajaram Legal was the legal adviser. 

Prior to the funds raised from Temasek, UpGrad had been 100 per cent owned, funded and run by its co-founders Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli. 

"This capital will further fuel our commitment towards global expansion as well as deeper India penetration, as we march forward with our goal of making India the teaching capital of the world," said Mr Screwvala, chairman of UpGrad, in the press statement.

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UpGrad targets to achieve US$2 billion in revenue by 2026. Based on its fact sheet, the firm is currently at an annual revenue run rate of US$165 million after having crossed its milestone of US$14 million a month.

In an interview with Bloomberg published Monday, Mr Screwvala said the firm is "not quite a unicorn, but we'll get there soon". Sales were doubling every year and he expects to raise another round of capital in three to six months' time, he added. 

"Online higher education startups like ours target every person from the time they enter college to the time they retire... The (higher education) segment has three times the potential of K-12 online learning," Mr Screwvala told Bloomberg.