BYJU’S to raise $700M in fresh funding at flat valuation of $22B

BYJU'S is set to raise $700 million in fresh funding, at a flat valuation of $22 billion, people familiar with the development told YourStory.

The fresh funding round, which is in the final stages, may be closed in the next one to two weeks, the people noted. Existing investors are also participating in this round, for which the due diligence has already been done, they added.

The Financial Express reported the development first. Its report stated that the edtech firm’s fresh round of funding was led by two West Asia-based sovereign wealth funds and large private equity firms. According to one of the provisions of the agreement, at least $400 million - $500 million has been set aside for debt payments, it added.

BYJU'S declined to comment on the development.

This development comes a day after BYJU'S appointed Ajay Goel as its chief financial officer amid a delay in filing the FY22 financials with the Registrar of Companies. The edtech firm's FY21 financials were filed with regular accounting bodies in India after an 18-month delay.

Recently, it was reported that BYJU'S was planning to raise as much as $250 million through the issuance of convertible notes by Aakash Educational Services Ltd, which it had acquired in April 2021 for a cash and stock deal of close to $950 million.

BYJU’S last raised $250 million in a funding round from its existing investors, including Qatar Investment Authority, in October 2022, after picking up $800 million from Blackrock, Sumeru Ventures, and others in March. It also took on an unsecured loan of Rs 300 crore from Aakash in October last year.

As part of renegotiating its debt financing arrangements, BYJU'S last month offered to raise the interest rate on its $1.2-billion term loan B (TLB) to its lenders. This was the biggest TLB being placed by an Indian startup at the time of the raise, but the loan was unrated.

Recently, the edtech firm has come under scrutiny for its accounting procedures and substantial downsizing. In February, YourStory reported that BYJU’S had laid off 900 more people, from across teams, in a fresh round of layoffs.

The startup, which was last valued at $22 billion, reported a loss of Rs 4,564.38 crore in FY21, bigger than its FY20 loss, which stood at Rs 305.5 crore.

(The story has been updated with additional information on the fresh funding round.)