Byju’s is experiencing steady but sustainable growth and is on track to reaching profitability across its group operations, according to CEO Byju Raveendran on Thursday. To reassure employees concerned about Byju’s financial health, Byju hosted a town hall meeting featuring Raveendran.
Tiger Global-backed company has endured a tough year, due to various factors. These included its failure to submit 2021-22 results timely and breaching covenants with lenders under its $1.2 billion term loan B. As a result, its loss increased to Rs 4,589 crore last fiscal year and it reduced capital expenditure and laid off thousands of employees as it pivots away from exponential growth towards sustainable expansion – changes which were initially scheduled for 2024.
But, despite these obstacles, sources told Inc42 that the company remains on course to reach its expected profit for 2023-24. Additionally, after an impressive fundraising round it plans on raising additional funds which will enable it to meet current commitments while investing in new initiatives that fulfill its long-term vision of revolutionising education.
Raveendran provided employees with confidence that their company has survived similar crises before and will emerge stronger from this one as well. He stressed their deep passion and dedication towards their mission of providing quality education to everyone, including making massive personal investments to bring this vision to fruition – even investing his last penny! In addition, he applauded their team’s relentless devotion.
He encouraged employees to ignore media speculations and focus on working with passion, strength, resilience and conviction instead. Furthermore, he advised them to continue building innovative products while reaching out to students more efficiently.
At this meeting, he shared the firm’s plans and initiatives for its future, such as its move into expanding beyond digital learning platform with new initiatives like Byju Boost, Byju Mastermind and Byju Academy, all designed for students from low-income families. Furthermore, Byju will open campuses all across India so it can provide its services to remote areas.
Byju has also expanded into counseling services and is developing an app to assist children cope with exam stress. Recently, Byju began providing healthcare insurance coverage for its employees.
As these initiatives will assist Byju in meeting its objectives, it remains to be seen if it can secure all of its desired funding. In order to attract investors and ensure compliance with regulations as well as negotiations with creditors successfully, Byju’s shareholders (Sequoia India, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tiger Global and B Capital among them) may no longer remain supportive unless Byju can demonstrate progress being made towards meeting those objectives.
