Byjus has established itself as a significant presence in the online education arena, reshaping the learning journey to prioritize both convenience and efficiency. The surge in popularity of online learning is evident, as a growing number of students opt for this approach instead of traditional methods. The internet has become a pervasive and preferred educational medium, and Byjus leads the way in providing a comprehensive, easily accessible online learning experience.
But who could have ever imagined that such a big turmoil could occur in the world of Byjus? It came as a shock to everyone that Byjus was declared bankrupt . It is in such terrible condition that its owner has to mortgage his own property to clear debts and pay salaries to their employees. Byjus reached its peak at the time of covid , during the pandemic, when the educational institution were closed so at that point, the majority of the student population shifts to online learning, choosing Byjus for their mode of knowledge Due to this, Byjus’s valuation, which was 5.57 billion dollars in the year 2019, jumped to 13 billion dollars in March 2021. But the major fallback or downfall for Byjus began in the post-pandemic era When educational institutes were back and open, the traditional method of education was dominant over the online mode. At this moment, all the funding had dried up; even investors were in doubt and quite skeptical about the whole thing. Eventually, what happened was that since 2022, the organization has laid off over 5000 employees. One of the major setbacks for Bujus is that it had to go through accquisitions, which ultimately resulted in massive losses. Another thing that was observed that was not a good turn for the company is that in the financial year 2021, it suffered a tragic loss of Rs. 4588 crore, but in comparison, it was only able to generate revenue of Rs. 22800 crore. Many reasons could lined up for this collapse of such a valued company such as its over aggressive growth model, huge expenditure like sponsoring IPL and FIFA , huge advertisement expenditure and lastly acquiring other companies likes Akash on high valuation.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has stated that Bujus had defaulted on a payment of Rs 158 crore. Now BCCI has sent a notice to Byjus that they should go to NCLT and announce themselves as bankrupt so that BCCI could recover their sponsorship. In order to manage such a big turmoil, Byjus decided to take back its BCCI sponsorship in December 2021 which was quickly replaced by Dream 11 and the sponsorship deal that was associated with Jersy fell apart as the company abruptly ended the deal with BCCI as financial and regulatory problems and difficulties were piling up. Along with this, the Enforcement Directorate has put Byjus under their radar and therefore sent Byjus a Rs 9000 crore notice for FEMA due to all this downfall in the company’s valuation of 85%.
But things kept going south as the Enforcement Directorate raided the company’s owner's home and seized all the significant and related documents over violations of foreign exchange laws. Byjus also in bad sight, has been sued by its lenders but in return, the company sued them back and denied to pay back its loan amounting to 1.2 billion dollars. Due to all of these problems and the mess that it has created, three members of Byjus board have resigned out of concern for its corporate governance. Byjus also showed delays in paying the salaries to their employees in the month of November and the founder has to pay the due salaries at the cost of his own homes which cost over Rs 100 crore.
Conclusion:
It is a quite rough sight to see that once India’s most appreciated and highest valued startup is being put aside and cornered from all direction with absolute no hand of help. But it will a great fight for the CEO to get back in the game.
But who could have ever imagined that such a big turmoil could occur in the world of Byjus? It came as a shock to everyone that Byjus was declared bankrupt . It is in such terrible condition that its owner has to mortgage his own property to clear debts and pay salaries to their employees. Byjus reached its peak at the time of covid , during the pandemic, when the educational institution were closed so at that point, the majority of the student population shifts to online learning, choosing Byjus for their mode of knowledge Due to this, Byjus’s valuation, which was 5.57 billion dollars in the year 2019, jumped to 13 billion dollars in March 2021. But the major fallback or downfall for Byjus began in the post-pandemic era When educational institutes were back and open, the traditional method of education was dominant over the online mode. At this moment, all the funding had dried up; even investors were in doubt and quite skeptical about the whole thing. Eventually, what happened was that since 2022, the organization has laid off over 5000 employees. One of the major setbacks for Bujus is that it had to go through accquisitions, which ultimately resulted in massive losses. Another thing that was observed that was not a good turn for the company is that in the financial year 2021, it suffered a tragic loss of Rs. 4588 crore, but in comparison, it was only able to generate revenue of Rs. 22800 crore. Many reasons could lined up for this collapse of such a valued company such as its over aggressive growth model, huge expenditure like sponsoring IPL and FIFA , huge advertisement expenditure and lastly acquiring other companies likes Akash on high valuation.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has stated that Bujus had defaulted on a payment of Rs 158 crore. Now BCCI has sent a notice to Byjus that they should go to NCLT and announce themselves as bankrupt so that BCCI could recover their sponsorship. In order to manage such a big turmoil, Byjus decided to take back its BCCI sponsorship in December 2021 which was quickly replaced by Dream 11 and the sponsorship deal that was associated with Jersy fell apart as the company abruptly ended the deal with BCCI as financial and regulatory problems and difficulties were piling up. Along with this, the Enforcement Directorate has put Byjus under their radar and therefore sent Byjus a Rs 9000 crore notice for FEMA due to all this downfall in the company’s valuation of 85%.
But things kept going south as the Enforcement Directorate raided the company’s owner's home and seized all the significant and related documents over violations of foreign exchange laws. Byjus also in bad sight, has been sued by its lenders but in return, the company sued them back and denied to pay back its loan amounting to 1.2 billion dollars. Due to all of these problems and the mess that it has created, three members of Byjus board have resigned out of concern for its corporate governance. Byjus also showed delays in paying the salaries to their employees in the month of November and the founder has to pay the due salaries at the cost of his own homes which cost over Rs 100 crore.
Conclusion:
It is a quite rough sight to see that once India’s most appreciated and highest valued startup is being put aside and cornered from all direction with absolute no hand of help. But it will a great fight for the CEO to get back in the game.