Byju’s clears payment to Aakash, completes $800-million fund raise

“Our fundraising efforts are on track and the majority of the 800 million has been already received. The balance is also expected soon. Our payments to Aakash are closed and the audited financial results are going to be announced in the next 10 days,” Byju’s said in a statement.

ET had reported on June 29 that Byju’s had delayed payments to Aakash, which it acquired in a cash and stock deal in April last year.

Byju’s was supposed to close the transaction in June, but had sought an extension till August, people aware of the discussions had told ET.

Byju’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran had made a personal investment of $400 million (over Rs 3,000 crore) of the total $800 million (about Rs 6,000 crore) announced in March. The firm was valued at $22 billion at time of the funding.

Talking about the lay-offs at the company, the statement said the decision was made to improve business efficiencies throughout the firms and its subsidiaries.

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“To reduce redundancies across our organisation after multiple acquisitions, we had to let go of nearly one per cent of our over 50,000 strong workforce. This retrenchment was a strategic decision to improve business efficiencies throughout Byju’s and its group companies. Byju’s remains a net hirer,” the edtech firm said.

Amid the shrinking edtech space in India, Byju’s had laid off at least 600 jobs – 300 from its Toppr learning platform and another 300 at coding platform WhiteHat Jr,
ET had reported on June 29.

However, sacked employees of Byju’s group claimed the number of laid-off staff was higher than what was being cited by the company.

“With over 50,000 employees and growing, we take immense pride in our role as India’s largest job creator among startups. Byju’s continues to hire across levels for various businesses, departments and functions,” the company said.