Byju Raveendran, founder of embattled edtech group Byju's, said on Thursday afternoon that he had made mistakes, mistimed the market, overestimated growth potential, and once said 220 He admitted that the value of his startup, which was valued at $1 billion, is now effectively “zero.”
Raveendran told reporters that the company's aggressive acquisition of more than 20 startups to expand into new markets proved fatal when funding dried up in 2022. Bijouzu plans to go public in early 2022, and said multiple investment bankers have given the company a solid valuation. TechCrunch previously reported that the amount could reach $50 billion.
He claimed that many of his more than 100 investors encouraged him to pursue aggressive expansion into up to 40 markets. But when global markets plummeted in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the venture capital market went into a downward spiral, those very investors became cold, he added.
Mr. Raveendran said many of his investors had “flighted” and that the startup's decline has been exacerbated by the departure of three major backers from the company's board last year: Prosus Ventures, Peak XV and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. He said it has become impossible to raise additional funds.
Representatives from the three aforementioned companies and auditor Deloitte left the startup's board last year, citing governance issues.
Byju's has since entered bankruptcy proceedings and Raveendran, who no longer controls the company, said: What kind of valuation are we talking about? It's worth zero. ”
Byju's was once India's most valuable startup, and its backers include BlackRock, UBS, Lightspeed, QIA, Bond, Silver Lake, Sofina, Verlinvest, Tencent, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, General Atlantic, Tiger Global , Owl Ventures, and the World Bank's IFC. . It has raised more than $5 billion to date.
Raveendran said he remains hopeful that his startup will make a comeback. “I have nothing to lose. I come from a small village. I invested everything I had into this startup.”