Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech startup, has raised $700 million at a flat valuation of $22 billion, involving two separate deals of equity and convertible notes, according to a Financial Express report.
The much-needed capital infusion could help the edtech major stave off potential debt issues.
The report further said that the fresh funding round was led by two West Asia-based sovereign wealth funds and large private equity firms. However, a few existing investors have also participated in the round.
The company had last raised $250 million in October at the same valuation.
The company had last raised $250 million from existing investors and Qatar Investment Authority.
The company attained a valuation of $22 billion in the funding round of $800 million, announced in March 2022.
Byju’s has set a target to become profitable by the end of this month.
The company retrenched 2,500 employees under the plan and hired 10,000 teachers for India and overseas.
Byju’s booked a loss of ₹4,588 crore for the fiscal ended March 2021 — 19 times more than the preceding fiscal.
The losses in 2020-21 fiscal widened from ₹231.69 crore in 2019-20.
Revenues during the financial year (FY) 2021 dropped to ₹2,428 crore from ₹2,511 crore in FY20.
But in the fiscal ending March 2022, the company said revenue soared four-fold to ₹10,000 crore, but it did not reveal profit or loss numbers for that year.
Meanwhile, Byju’s, which grappled with mounting losses after the pandemic-era boom in online tutoring petered out, is in separate talks with creditors to renegotiate an agreement governing a $1.2 billion loan that’s in breach of covenants.
Founder Byju Raveendran — a son of teachers and a former educator himself — is now working on a turnaround plan for the group, pledging to make it profitable this year.
With agency inputs
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