New Delhi:
Indian edtech startup Byju’s first-year results showed its parent company’s losses narrowed slightly amid a boom in business during the pandemic. This adds to challenges for the company, which is embroiled in a dispute with creditors over a $1.2 billion loan. The parent company of the Bengaluru-based online tuition firm is Think and Learn Private Limited. It reported an operational loss of 22.5 billion rupees ($271 million) in the fiscal year ended March 2022, up from a loss of 24 billion rupees a year earlier, it said in an emailed statement. At the same time, the edtech firm’s total revenue in the March 2022 quarter more than doubled to Rs. 35.7 billion has been reached.
The company’s quarterly results show how Byju – once the poster child of India’s emerging startup economy – is struggling post-Covid. Term Loan sued Baiju this year after breaching a $1.2 billion term loan contract. The struggle thrust the company’s founder Baiju Ravindran into the spotlight, whose meteoric rise from tutor to head of the country’s most valuable tech startup attracted investors. Baiju spent heavily to meet the increased demand for its services during the pandemic when schools and colleges were closed.
As a sponsor of the Indian national cricket team at one time, it also sponsored the U.S. And elsewhere bought several companies and tried to expand globally. But growth has slowed since schools and colleges resumed classes, and the company’s challenges have been compounded by a months-long legal dispute, showing signs of further growth.
The company came under the regulator’s scrutiny for delay in disclosing its financial results. Due to this, Deloitte Haskins & Sales had to resign as auditor of the company this year. In April, the company’s Bengaluru office was raided. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized the laptop and digital data during the raid. It also publicly linked the world’s most valuable edtech startup to possible violations of foreign exchange rules.
Several US-based investors accused Baiju of hiding half a billion dollars, leading to lawsuits. One of its main investors, Process NV, cut the price of its stake in June, valuing the startup at $5.1 billion. As of last year, Baiju has raised funds at a valuation of $22 billion.