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Hi there,
When someone says it’s raining outside, the rational approach is to look out the window to see if those words hold any water.
That’s exactly what my colleague Collin does in this week’s Big Story. He dives into the US$22 billion tag that India-headquartered Byju’s boasts amid a battery of eyebrow-raising headlines surrounding the edtech giant.
None of these headlines can be taken lightly: an auditor not signing off on the company’s 2021 financials, mass layoffs, and questions on its revenue models. And amid delays in acquiring an Indian brick-and-mortar tutoring chain in a much-touted deal, Byju’s wanted to proceed with acquiring US-based edtech firm 2U.
Some of these problems could see a resolution soon: Byju’s has secured US$2.4 billion in acquisition financing, out of which it’ll shell out US$2.2 billion for 2U.
It’s possible that Byju’s – named after the educator-turned-entrepreneur Byju Raveendran – may list much later than anticipated. That’s not necessarily on Byju’s – the public markets haven’t been very kind of late, to put it mildly.
On that note, the good folks at East Ventures have spoken with Tech in Asia at length about the sectors they deem most promising in the current downturn. More on this in Making Waves.
— Nikita
THE BIG STORY
A $22b question on Byju’s valuation
Image credit: Timmy Loen
As uncertainties around financials and funding rounds plague the edtech giant, a key question remains unanswered: How will this affect its valuation?
MAKING WAVES
Recession Run: East Ventures’ bets in a downturn
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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