Edtech firm Byju's likely to close $250 mn equity fund raise in April

Edtech major Byju's is likely to close a USD 250 million equity funding deal in April at a USD 22 billion valuation, sources aware of the development said.

The company had last raised USD 250 million in October at the same valuation.

"Byju's is in the process of raising USD 250 million. The term sheets are expected to close in about 2-3 weeks," a source told PTI.

Another source said the fundraising is an equity deal and happening at a flat valuation of USD 22 billion.

When contacted Byju's declined to comment.

The company had last raised USD 250 million from existing investors and Qatar Investment Authority.

The company attained a valuation of USD 22 billion in the funding round of USD 800 million, announced in March 2022.

Byju's has set a target to become profitable by the end of this month.

The company retrenched 2,500 employees under the plan and hired 10,000 teachers for India and overseas.

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

The losses in 2020-21 fiscal widened from Rs 231.69 crore in 2019-20.

Revenues during the financial year (FY) 2021 dropped to Rs 2,428 crore from Rs 2,511 crore in FY20.

But in the fiscal ending March 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.

The company is yet to release a financial performance report for FY22.