Ed-tech startup, UpGrad, is reportedly in talks with potential investors to rise funding to the tune of $40 million (Rs 266 crore). This will be the first round of external funding raised by the company. The Mumbai-based company, which is backed by Ronnie Screwvala, has held discussions with three potential investors of which two are financial and one is strategic. If the discussions are successful, the company could receive a $400 million valuation. Reports suggest that the company has confirmed that there was interest shown by investor groups to raise the above mentioned amount for a 10% stake, however the names of the potential investors remain undisclosed.

The company was started in January 2015 and provides working professionals with online courses in entrepreneurship, digital marketing, data analytics and product management. The company’s co-founders are Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Ravijot Chugh, and Prabhav Phalgun.

The latest round of funding will possibly be concluded by the end of the first quarter of the current calendar year. So far, Ronnie Screwvala has been the primary financial backer of the company, pumping in Rs 100 crore so far and promising an addition Rs 200 crore.

“We looked at the first mover advantage we had, but wanted to do things consecutively. However, we do now believe that the opportunity is too big. Plus, the speed at which our working professionals in India need the upgrading and uplearning , there is no choice but to look at things exponentially, and so have decided to open the company to a 10% dilution and capital raise for us to take all our initiatives,” Ronnie Screwvala told Economic Times.

The company is also planning on expanding its platform internationally to Southeast Asia, West Asia and African markets. The company has partnered with premier institutions including IIT Bangalore, BITS Pilani, IMT Ghaziabad, SPJIMR, MICA Ahmedabad, and Cambridge University, UK. The company’s main competitors are Coursera and Udacity.

The company had obtained its seed funding from Unilazer Ventures, an investment firm that was founded by Ronnie Screwvala and is expected to achieve a revenue target of Rs 250 crore and student run rate of 8000 by March of the current calendar year.

“If we just take the size and potential of the market in the very immediate future, there will be job creation and specific opportunities of one million jobs in each of three segments-data, management and software development & coding,” Ronnie Screwvala said.

In October 2016, UpGrad acqui-hired Pyoopil Education Technologies Pvt. Ltd and thereby marked its entry into the corporate training segment.

(Picture courtesy: UpGrad)