Blackrock downgrades the valuation of Byju’s and Swiggy
By MYBRANDBOOK
Think & Learn Pvt., the parent company of Byju's, is in the news from last six months of the Balance sheet, as the companies auditor Deloitte not approved the financial of 2021 because of certain revenue recognition practices. Byju’s has 150 million registered users, has since been plagued by challenges, including a long-delayed filing of audited financial statements and a truncated fundraising this year.
India’s most valuable startup has reported a net loss of Rs 4,588 crore in FY21. At Rs 2,430 crore, revenue was little changed from the previous 12 months. Till about a year back, one would mostly hear of its big-bang acquisitions and an unquenchable thirst to raise funding. The edtech startup blamed the performance on changes in accounting practices that led it to defer revenue to subsequent years.
Backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, General Atlantic and Tiger Global, Byju’s has raised billions of dollars in capital to finance a global acquisition spree in the face of a tech downturn worldwide. But the the real problem started when there are issues like the year-long delay in filing of FY21 annual report, a large number of layoffs, and fundraising issues spooked the stakeholders.
In October, Byju’s said it had raised $250 million from existing investors, led by Qatar Investment Authority. This came after it effected layoffs and appointed Lionel Messi as the brand ambassador for its social initiative. The funding kept Byju’s valuation at $22 billion and its status as India’s most valuable startup.
Some of the biggest Indian startups are taking a haircut in their valuations, at least in the eyes of their investors, as some backers adjust their estimates amid the weakening global economy. BlackRock has cut the valuation of Byju’s, which is India’s most valuable startup at $22 billion, by nearly half to $11.5 billion.
In another report, the most valuable company into online food delivery platform Swiggy, startup at $10.7 billion, has been marked down to a valuation of about $8 billion by Georgia-based investment company Invesco, from its earlier valuation of nearly $11 billion. Swiggy reached a $10.7 billion valuation in a round led by Invesco in January last year. Both BYJU's and Swiggy have slashed jobs in order to cut costs in the deepening funding winter.
The valuation cuts add a new dimension to the impact of the dwindling market conditions on the Indian startups. Funding activity in the Indian startup ecosystem slowed down last year, but because many of the larger startups raised capital on convertible notes (and hence pushed the price discovery to a later date) or did not raise capital at all, their last valuations have largely remained unchanged.
Masayoshi Son, founder and chief executive of SoftBank Group, indicated to the ongoing trend last year when he cautioned that the funding winter for startups may continue for longer because some unicorns were unwilling to accept lower valuations in fresh funding deliberations.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Legal Battle Over IT Act Intensifies Amid Musk’s India Plans
The outcome of the legal dispute between X Corp and the Indian government c...
Wipro inks 10-year deal with Phoenix Group's ReAssure UK worth
The agreement, executed through Wipro and its 100% subsidiary,...
Centre announces that DPDP Rules nearing Finalisation by April
The government seeks to refine the rules for robust data protection, ensuri...
Home Ministry cracks down on PoS agents in digital arrest scam
Digital arrest scams are a growing cybercrime where victims are coerced or ...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Hrithik Roshan to endorse RuPay as Brand Ambassador
RuPay is reportedly planning to feature Bollywood superstar Hrithik Rosha
India Today Group launches – AI Pop Stars
Staying true to our industry leadership position in using cutting-edge tech
MOVERS & SHAKERS
TelioLabs ropes in Phaniraj V A as the Group CEO
TelioLabs has announced the onboarding of Phaniraj V A as its new Group CE
Wipro Appoints Amit Kumar as Managing Partner and Global Head
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading technology s
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
Autodesk continually pushing the boundaries in the Design and
Autodesk’s vision is of a better world designed and made for all. It inte
In India, 88% of Indian business leaders are planning to inves
As we move through 2024, it has become increasingly clear that AI is not ju
HOT PICK
MSI Announces the availability of RTX 50 series of laptops in
MSI, the innovative computing manufacturer in gaming, creator
Nothing Phone (3a) goes on sale today, starting at Rs 19,999
The phone was launched on March 4, featuring a 50MP main, ultra-wide, and t
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
DATA SAFEGUARD INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
DELL TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT. LTD.
DIGISOL SYSTEMS LTD.
AMARA RAJA POWER SYSTEMS LTD.
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
Icons Of India : B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
A 1987 batch (Chhattisgarh cadre) Indian Administrative Service Office...
Icons Of India : MADHABI PURI BUCH
Madhabi Puri Buch is the first-female chairperson of India’s markets...
ICONS OF INDIA : SANJAY GUPTA
Sanjay Gupta is the Country Head and Vice President of Google India an...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
GeM - Government e Marketplace
GeM is to facilitate the procurement of goods and services by various ...
NIC - National Informatics Centre
NIC serves as the primary IT solutions provider for the government of ...
LIC - Life Insurance Corporation of India
LIC is the largest state-owned life insurance company in India...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Global Indian industry
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO- Micron Technology
Sanjay Mehrotra, the President and CEO of Micron Technology, is at the...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Dheeraj Pandey, CEO, DevRev
Dheeraj Pandey, Co-founder and CEO at DevRev , has a remarkable journe...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Vinod Dham, Founder & Executive Managing Partner, IndoUS Venture Partners
Vinod Dham, known as the “Father of the Pentium Chip,” has left an...
ITFORUM 2025
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
IMAGE GALLERY
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
of images belongs to the respective copyright holders
