Edtech unicorn BYJU'S has raised $250 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) from its existing investors, including Qatar Investment Authority, in a fresh funding round, the company said on Monday. The funding round follows BYJU'S recent announcement to become profitable by March 2023.
BYJU'S founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said that the edtech is now at that sweet spot of its growth story where the unit economics and the economies of scale both are in its favour.
"This means the capital that we now invest in our business will result in profitable growth and create sustainable social impact. Regardless of the adverse macroeconomic conditions, 2022-23 is set to be our best year in terms of revenue, growth and profitability. Continued support from our esteemed investors re-affirms the impact created by us so far, and validates our path to profitability," Raveendran said.
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The company last week announced its path to profitability whereby it will consolidate all its K-10 India subsidiaries into a single unit to leverage their synergies. The move will lead to the lay-off of about 2,500 people across roles.
Meanwhile, the company also plans to hire 10,000 academic staff across the globe, which will comprise about half of the hiring in India.
Aakash Education and Great Learning, which are respectively into test prep and upskilling, will continue to operate as standalone independent units. The company will now be retargeting its marketing budget towards its overseas markets.
BYJU'S claims to have over 150 million learners accessing its products and services in more than 120 countries.
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It recorded Rs 4,588 crore losses for fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, which is 19 times more than the preceding fiscal. These losses in FY 2020-21 widened from Rs 231.69 crore in 2019-20, while revenues during FY21 dropped to Rs 2,428 crore from Rs 2,511 crore in FY20.
But in the fiscal ending March 31, 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.