upGrad on Monday said it has raised USD 120 million from Singapore-based Temasek, making this the first external fund-raise by the edtech major. Since its inception in 2015, upGrad has been 100 per cent owned, funded, and run by its co-founders as a capital-efficient business. upGrad plans to use the fresh capital to further strengthen its team, scale its global market operations and bolster its technology and product capabilities, a statement said.

The company will also pursue merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities, expand graduate and post-graduate degree portfolio in India, and scale up operations to achieve its USD 2 billion revenue goal by 2026, it added. “We welcome Temasek in our mission to power career success for each and every member of the global workforce as their trusted LifeLongLearning partner and drive meaningful career outcomes,” upGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala said. This capital will further fuel the company’s commitment towards global expansion as well as deeper India penetration, as it marches forward with its goal of making India the teaching capital of the world, upGrad co-founder Mayank Kumar added. Credit Suisse acted as the exclusive financial advisor to upGrad, and Rajaram Legal acted as legal advisor.

upGrad is an online higher edtech company offering over 100 courses in collaboration with global universities like Duke Corporate Education, Michigan State University, IIT Madras, IIM Kozhikode, and others. The platform has impacted over 1 million total registered learners in over 50 countries. The edtech space has seen strong growth globally with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point. While a number of players have raised fresh funding from investors, consolidation is also being seen in the industry with deals like Unacademy acquiring PrepLadder for USD 50 million and Byju’s buying WhiteHat Jr for USD 300 million, and Aakash Educational Services for nearly USD 1 billion.