Byju's to fire 2,500 staff, designs mega plan to turn profitable by March 2023
Byju's will turn profitable by March 2023, the Tiger Global-backed edtech company has claimed.
Byju's announced on October 12 that it had planns to turn profitable by March 2023. In September, due to rising promotion and labour costs, The Tiger Global-backed edtech company recorded a loss of ₹4,588 crore for the 2021 fiscal year.
Byju's has developed a plan to reduce its marketing and operating costs in order to turn a profit by March 2023. As a result, 5% of its workforce, or roughly 2,500 workers, will be let go during the following six months.
According to Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of Byju, the company will start concentrating on establishing brand awareness abroad through new collaborations and hire 10,000 teachers for both its Indian and international operations.
Also Read: Byju's posts gross revenue of ₹10,000 crore in FY22
"We have designed a path to profitability which we plan to achieve by March 2023. We have built significant brand awareness throughout India and there is scope to optimise marketing budget and prioritise the spends in a way that it creates a global footprint. Second is operational cost and the third is integration of multiple business units," Gokulnath said.
The loss of ₹4,588 crore in fiscal year 2021 was 19 times worse than the year before. From ₹231.69 crore in the previous fiscal year, losses increased in the 2020–21 period. From ₹2,511 crore in FY20 to ₹2,428 crore in FY21, revenues decreased.
Also Read: Byju’s misses deadline to clear dues above ₹1,500 cr to Blackstone over Aakash deal
The company reported that sales in the following year, which ends on March 31, 2022, increased fourfold to ₹10,000 crore, although it withheld information on profit or loss for that year. According to Byju's, the losses grew in FY21 mostly due to the postponement of some revenue and losses from WhiteHat Jr.
Byju's earlier paid Blackstone $230 million that was owed for acquiring the bulk of the exam preparation company Aakash Educational Services, according to PTI sources. Aakash was acquired by Byju's in April for $950 million. Byju’s acquisition of Aakash has apparently worked in its favour.
Blackstone's payment was postponed per mutual agreement while it cleared payments that were owed to the founder of Aakash in July. Aakash and Blackstone's founders still own a small portion of the business.
Also Read: Byju's shifts focus to profitable growth: CEO to employees
The payment to Blackstone and the failure to close the $800 million funding round because Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott's agreed investment was not paid in full were the two key issues that sparked concerns about Byju's commercial performance.
When the results were announced, Byju's co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran stated that although the two investment firms' contractual commitment is still in place, the fund has not arrived and these organisations have not made any investments in the previous six months.
(With agency inputs)
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