After losses skyrocketed due to a change in the method of calculating revenues, India's edtech giant Byju's had to lay off 1,500 people. Following the setbacks, 2023 got worse for Byju's after the Enforcement Directorate raided its offices.
Now Amercian investment firm BlackRock has slashed the Indian unicorn's fair value by 62 per cent, which is its second such move in less than six months.
With a 1 per cent equity in the startup, BlackRock has estimated the fair value of Byju's at $8.4 billion as of March 2023.
The firm also cut down the edtech platform's valuation from $22 billion to $11.5 billion in April.
Impact of the markdown
Despite multiple markdowns of the firm's valuation, founder Byju Raveendran isn't worried and the startup managed to bag a $250 million debt.
As it is being probed for violations of the foreign exchange management act, Byjus has also faced trouble from unions over layoffs and criticism over spending on hiring Lionel Messi as a brand ambassador.
With global headwinds shaking up the Indian startup ecosystem, Byju's is just one of many unicorns in the country which have witnessed a fall in valuations.
