 "Byju's")
In its latest funding round, edtech major and India's biggest unicorn Byju's is set to raise around $500-$700 million at a flat valuation of $22 billion. The round will be led by a couple of top private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds, a report by IANS said on Tuesday. The round can happen anytime soon this month.
The funding round, anticipated for quite some time amid the deepening funding winter, will help Byju's pay off some of its existing debt and consolidate and grow its business further, according to people privy to the development.
"The round is led by top VC firms and some existing investors in BYJU's are also keen to participate, which may take the funding round to its maximum," sources told IANS.
"To meet the regulatory framework, a solid due diligence has been done by the BYJU's and the investors in taking the round to its concluding stage," they said, adding that this will help the edtech unicorn "come back with a bang" amid larger scrutiny and other problems it is currently going through with some of its acquisitions like WhiteHat Jr.
The latest funding round comes as the company aims to repay a huge $1.2-billion term loan it had secured in November 2021.
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The company has now appointed Ajay Goel as its chief financial officer (CFO), aiming to strengthen its financial operations and achieve profitability.
To turn profitable, Byju's is winding up the coding platform WhiteHat Jr, which it acquired for $300 million, as part of the restructuring and cutting costs. The company had said it was "merely optimising it".
Byju's did not meet its March 2023 deadline to achieve group-level profitability, as it envisioned in its earnings in October last year.
(With agency inputs)
