Byju's, valued at $22 billion in Nov 2022, now at less than $3 billion. Here's what happened
The $22 billion valuation, which came after Byju's raised a $250 million funding round, marked a peak for the edtech giant.
Tech investor Prosus has downgraded its valuation of Bujy's, in which the former owns a stake, valuing the company at less than $3 billion, down significantly from the previous official valuation for the Bengaluru-based firm.
In October 2022, in what marked a peak for Byju's, it was valued at more than $22 billion, when it raised a $250 million funding round. Prosus' valuation of Byju's, therefore, represents an 86% decline from what the edtech major was previously valued at, officially.
Prosus interim CEO Ervin Tu disclosed the investor's latest valuation of Byju's, doing so during a conference call. The Amsterdam-based global investment group has a 9.6% stake in Byju's.
Also, the latest development marks the second instance this year of Prosus downsizing the value of its stake in the Byju Raveendran-founded startup, which is simultaneously mired in multiple controversies. In June, the investment group announced a valuation of $493 million for its 9.6% stake in Byju's for financial year ending March, while, in contrast, in November last year, it valued the latter at $5.97 billion.
Also, in July, Prosus representative on Byju's board, Russell Dreisenstock, resigned; he cited ‘poor’ reporting, as well as governance structures, as the reasons behind his exit.
"Despite repeated efforts from our director (Dreisenstock), executive leadership at Byju's regularly disregarded advice and recommendations relating to strategic, operational, legal, and corporate governance matters," Prosus said in a statement then, though it added it will ‘continue to assert our rights as a shareholder.’
A Byju's spokesperson, in response, said: ""We have noted the observations of our valued investors. We have updated our shareholders about definitive steps taken to improve corporate governance and financial reporting".