Byju's to raise Rs 4,900 crore, in talks with Abu Dhabi wealth funds

In its last round of funding, announced last week, Byju's had raised Rs 2,000 crore from its existing investors

Edtech major Byju's is likely in talks with Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds and current investors to raise $500-600 million (Rs 4,100 crore-Rs 4,900 crore), according to a Business Standard report citing sources.

“There is no change in Byju’s valuation. The new fundraising process is still going on,” a person in the know of things told the publication.

DH could not independently verify the report.

In its last round of funding, announced last week, Byju's had raised $250 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) from its existing investors, including Qatar Investment Authority.

The company aims to be profitable by March 2023 and will consolidate all its K10 India subsidiaries into one unit to leverage their synergies. The move will lead to the lay-off of about 2,500 people across roles.

However, the company also plans to hire 10,000 academic staff across the globe, which will comprise about half of the hiring in India.

Byju's booked a loss of Rs 4,588 crore for fiscal year that ended March 31, 2021, 19 times more than the preceding fiscal.

The losses in the 2020-21 fiscal widened from Rs 231.69 crore in 2019-20. Revenues during FY21 dropped to Rs 2,428 crore from Rs 2,511 crore in FY20.

But in the fiscal ending March 31, 2022, the company said revenue soared four-fold to Rs 10,000 crore but it did not reveal profit or loss numbers for that year.

(with agency inputs)