Naspers [JSE:NPN] announced on Monday that it has led a $540m (R7.72bn) investment in Indian educational startup BYJU'S, a learning app for primary and high school pupils in India.
"The investment will drive the BYJU’S team to further innovate, explore and set new benchmarks for tech-enabled learning products," said Naspers in a media statement.
A "significant portion" of the investment is being contributed by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
The group's app offers "personalised learning programmes" for pupils in grades 4 to 12 in India.
According to Naspers, since it was launched in 2015, over 30 million pupils have used BYJU'S learning app with over 2 million cumulative annual paid subscriptions.
Byju Raveendran, the founder and CEO of BYJU’S, said in a statement the group's goal was to create the world’s largest education company.
"India has the largest population attending primary school in the world and Indian households are willing to invest a lot in their children’s education because a good education is viewed as the best path to success. I believe the importance of quality education amongst the entire population in India fueled our ability to create an engaging and high-impact learning app.”
As part of the investment, Russell Dreisenstock, head of international investments at Naspers Ventures, will be joining the BYJU’S board.
* Fin24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers