Ed-tech company Byju's founder Byju Ravindran shared a photo from his younger days with a motivational caption on the social media platform X amid insolvency proceedings in the Supreme Court against what once was known as “world's largest ed-tech company.”
“Broke, not Broken. We will rise again,” Byju Ravindran's post read, suggesting plans at revival of the bankrupt startup once valued at over $22 billion by investors.
Byju's offers online tutorials on subjects such as math, physics and chemistry for school students. Its business boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic as schools were forced to shut down, forcing students to seek options for online learning.
Byju's valuation shot up from $5 billion before the pandemic to $22 billion in 2022, and it acquired several companies on the way. Its fortunes began to take a hit due to resumption of physical classes and the company's revenues could not sustain rapid expansion and aggressive acquisitions.
In 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked a tribunal to initiate insolvency proceedings against Byju's for defaulting on $19 million of dues over sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team's jerseys. The proceedings were quashed as the Indian cricket board and Byju's agreed arrived at a settlement in which the company agreed to pay the full amount.
The case prompted US lenders, represented by Glas Trust, to approach the Supreme Court alleging that Byju's used money owed to lenders to pay BCCI. The company denied charges of mismanagement, but the apex court stayed the tribunal's order and ordered insolvency proceedings against Byju's.
In a recent post on LinkedIn, Raveendran sought to explain what went wrong and how the situation is being misrepresented. He also called for a “thorough investigation” into alleged collusion and fraud involving the firm’s lender Glas Trust, consultancy firm EY, and former resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava.
