{"id":1200490,"date":"2022-09-08T05:23:12","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T05:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/09\/08\/byjus-has-no-answer-for-its-growing-list-of-missing-deadlines\/"},"modified":"2022-09-08T05:23:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T05:23:12","slug":"byjus-has-no-answer-for-its-growing-list-of-missing-deadlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/09\/08\/byjus-has-no-answer-for-its-growing-list-of-missing-deadlines\/","title":{"rendered":"Byju’s has no answer for its growing list of missing deadlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It took Byju\u2019s 10 years to become India\u2019s most valuable startup, expanding its empire of online learning apps to many markets including the U.S. The firm, founded by a teacher, largely avoided controversies even as its sales operations are anything but ideal (though not extreme by Indian standards.) Now merely a few quarters \u2013 or who knows in this market, a few years? \u2013 away from becoming a public company, Byju\u2019s is finding it increasingly difficult to hold its narrative straight.<\/p>\n

The company has missed its own deadlines to file its audited financial for the year ending March 2021 by nearly 18 months. The startup \u2014 backed by scores of high-profile investors including Blackrock, Tiger Global, UBS, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia India and Lightspeed Venture Partners \u2014 said in early July that it will file the results within 10 days.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so rare for a late-stage startup to miss the deadline \u2013 let alone by so many months \u2013 that Byju\u2019s lapse has attracted the attention of India\u2019s Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Even a lawmaker has chimed in: In July, Karti Chidambaram called for an investigation into the finances of the firm for not submitting its statements.<\/p>\n

But as Ashish Mishra, editor of The Morning Context, an Indian news outlet that has outlined many lapses by Byju\u2019s in recent months, reminded this week<\/a>: Filing of the delayed financial results is just one of the issues with which Byju\u2019s is grappling.<\/p>\n

Byju\u2019s announced in March that it had raised $800 million in a round led by its founder Byju Raveendran. Little known venture firms Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott were to provide $250 million in that round, a commitment that they are yet to honor. Byju\u2019s said in July that it\u2019s on track to receive the funding by the end of August.<\/p>\n

The company, which has spent $2.5 billion acquiring smaller firms in the past two years, last year agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to acquire Blackstone-backed Aakash Educational Services, a 34-year-old chain of physical coaching centres. Byju\u2019s is yet to pay Blackstone about $180 million for the deal, missing its own August deadline.<\/p>\n

Byju\u2019s was also reportedly looking to raise about $1 billion loan from Morgan Stanley to finance the acquisition of U.S.-based edtech 2U. That deal is also stuck. The firm was also prepping to go public via the SPAC route this year, but has delayed the plans as the market downturn continues, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Byju\u2019s has been in the market for over three months to raise a new round, but so far has had no luck, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source added that secondary shares of Byju\u2019s are beginning to go on sale at a valuation lower than $22 billion.<\/p>\n

Byju\u2019s said it has no official comments to offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n