Edtech major BYJU’s has started a fundraising round to garner around USD 700 million (about Rs 5,750 crore), according to sources aware of the development.
The company expects to close fundraising of about USD 250 million soon and finish the entire funding round in about two weeks, another source said. “BYJU’s is in the final stages of discussion to close a funding round. It should be around USD 700 million but the final figures will be known only after the round closes,” a source said. The transaction is taking place at an old valuation of USD 22 billion in the ongoing round. An email query sent to BYJU’s elicited no reply.
The company had previously raised USD 250 million from existing investors and Qatar Investment Authority. The company was valued at USD 22 billion in the funding round of USD 800 million, announced in March 2022. Byju’s seeks 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 Rs 4,588 crore for 2020-21 — 19 times more than that of Rs 231.69 crore in 2019-20. Revenues during the financial year (FY) 2020-21 dropped to Rs 2,428 crore from Rs 2,511 crore in FY20. The company is yet to release a financial performance report for FY22.
