Still more opportunities in edtech with AI, says Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi
Prosus invested heavily in the once most valuable edtech company, BYJU'S, but as the company succumbed to legal and profitability troubles, the VC firm had to write off its stake in the firm.
Despite having run into expensive troubles in the Indian edtech segment, Prosus is not shying away from the potential the segment has to offer, especially amidst the rising use cases of artificial intelligence, according to Prosus CEO, Fabricio Bloisi.
Speaking at a press conference during Prosus’ first event in its global flagship series, Prosus Luminate India, Bloisi noted that the firm’s thesis of investing millions of dollars in Indian edtech highlighted its push for supporting a segment that can use technology to make the country run better and to create a competitive advantage.
While Bloisi praised the thesis, Prosus’ bet on the once edtech behemoth, BYJU'S, has far from paid off. The Dutch company had invested around $578 million in BYJU'S across multiple rounds since 2018, building up a stake of over 10% until mid-2022.
The Bengaluru-based company saw its valuation plummet from $22 billion to under $1 billion and is now under insolvency proceedings as it succumbed to mounting debt, disputes with creditors and regulatory bodies, as well as rising cases of employees not being paid salaries.
However, Bloisi holds a very optimistic view of the sector, despite the challenges. “It's part of life. We're not going to be less bold or to take less risks because of that. We just learned that sometimes technology is not ready for the future we predicted.”
Despite observing a loss of $493 million due to their investment in BYJU'S, Bloisi pointed out that the firm made more money than it had lost during foodtech major Swiggy’s public listing.
Prosus, an early backer of the firm, sold shares worth more than $500 million as part of the public offering recognising a gain of $2 billion on total investment.
Going forward, the firm currently estimates five of its Indian portfolio companies are ready for an initial public offering (IPO). Ecommerce platform Meesho and digital payments company PayU are reportedly two of Prosus’ portfolio companies that are looking to list in the next few months. Urban Company and omnichannel jewellery retailer BlueStone have already filed their draft papers with markets regulator, SEBI to list on public bourses.
Edited by Kanishk Singh