Byju’s Raises USD 250 million From Existing Investors

The major edtech company, Byju’s has raised USD 250 million from its existing investors at a USD 22 billion valuation. The company on Monday said Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) participated in the round but did not give a split.

“Byju’s is now at that sweet spot of its growth story where the unit economics and the economies of scale both are in its favour. This means the capital that we now invest in our business will result in profitable growth and create sustainable social impact. Regardless of the adverse macroeconomic conditions, 2022-23 is set to be our best year in terms of revenue, growth and profitability. Continued support from our esteemed investors re-affirms the impact created by us so far, and validates our path to profitability,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of Byju’s.

Previously, QIA led a USD 150 million round in Byju’s in July 2019. Owl Ventures had also invested in the company in the same round. Besides these two, the Bengaluru-headquartered company is backed by Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital India, Silver Lake, BlackRock, Sands Capital Management, Alkeon Capital Management, Sofina, Verlinvest, Tencent, Naspers Ventures, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Times Internet, Aarin Capital, and IFC.

The latest funding comes on the heels of Byju’s last week, announcing a slew of measures to optimize its operations and achieve group-level profitability by March 2023. These measures include laying off 2,500 employees accounting for 5 per cent of its workforce over the next six months, integrating the companies it acquired over the past three years, reworking its sales machinery and hiring a total of 10,000 more teachers in the coming year.

The layoffs are planned across product, content, media and technology teams in a phased manner. According to the company, the cost cuts will help achieve better unit economics and prepare the ground for its initial public offering (IPO). It has completed the integration of the companies it acquired over the past three years, including Toppr, Meritnation, TutorVista, Scholar and HashLearn, into its core K-10 business. Aakash Institute and Great Learning will continue to function as separate organizations.

Byju’s will now be retargeting its marketing budget towards its overseas markets, the company said. The Tiger Global-backed company is also increasing the strength of its inside sales team for more efficient and effective consumer-centric lead conversions, it added.

Early this year, Byju’s launched its hybrid learning offering, BYJU’S Tuition Centre (BTC). The company now operates more than 250 such centres across the country and aims to run 500 centres by the end of this financial year.

Byju’s posted a loss of INR 4,588 crore in the financial year 2021 (FY21), up from INR 231.69 crore in FY20, while its total expenses ballooned to INR 7,027.47 crore in FY21, against INR 2,873.34 crore in FY20.