Byju’s, a Bangalore-based ed-tech powerhouse backed by investors like Tencent and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, has been in the midst of a lot lately. Byju’s was last valued at $22 billion in March. Regarding its finances, it has been the target of a number of complaints in different news outlets. Notably, funds from the last investment round have not yet been received, Byju has delayed paying for a significant acquisition it made last year, and the financial reports for the fiscal year ending in March 2021 have not yet been approved by the company’s auditors. Allegations against Byju have all been refuted.
Byju’s reported raising $800 million in its most recent investment round in March of this year, with founder and CEO Byju Raveendran donating half of the total. The Bengaluru-based company’s valuation increased to over $22 billion from $18 billion earlier thanks to participation from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock as well.
According to sources, Raveendran’s stake in the company increased from 22% to nearly 25% after making a $400 million personal investment. They said that Raveendran was in talks with several domestic and international institutions to raise $400 million in the form of a loan against shares, which would enable him to increase investor interest at a time when values are under pressure.
According to a few media sources, Byju is delaying payments for an acquisition it made last year for almost $1 billion. At the same time, other sources claimed that Byju’s bid to purchase 2U Inc. in a cash transaction that valued the US-listed technology business at more than $1 billion was made in an effort to expand in the US.
“Our payments to Aakash are closed,” said Byju’s spokesperson. “The audited financial results are going to be announced in the next 10 days.”
Additionally, the company has given hundreds of workers pink slips. At WhiteHat Jr. and Toppr, two of its group companies, it has let go of around 500 workers. According to the corporation, the move is intended to increase cost-effectiveness. According to sources, the number of layoffs, which affect several different departmental roles, could rise. The corporation rejected a media report that estimated the number of layoffs at around 2,500. Byju’s said that following many acquisitions, the company had to lay off close to one per cent of its more than 50,000-person staff in order to reduce redundancies throughout the entire business.
These all take place at a time when the Byju Raveendran-led company was preparing for an IPO. By the next year, the company hopes to go public. According to past rumors, it might list as a primary listing in the US and a secondary listing in India, or vice versa. India and the US are both significant markets for Byju’s.
