According to disclosures provided by the asset manager, BlackRock has once again reduced the value of its position in Byju's, bringing the implied worth of the Indian startup down from $22 billion in early 2022 to $1 billion.
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BlackRock stated at the end of October of last year that Byju's shares were valued at roughly $209.6 per share, which was less than their peak of $4,660 in 2022.
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Earlier in May 2023, BlackRock reduced the fair value of Byju's by 62%, valuing it at $8.4 billion Â
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This comes in a series of valuation downgrades by Byju’s’ investors over the past year. Most recently in November, tech investor Prosus marked down the value of its stake in Byju's, resulting in a company valuation of less than $3 billion, representing an 86% decline from the previous valuation of $22 billion.
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From the beginning 2022, Byju’s has been under fire for various reasons like accounting irregularities, alleged mis-selling of courses, and mass layoffs. The investor board members have left due to differences with Raveendran.
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In past two years, the company has laid off thousands of employees as it battled a double blow of drying venture capital funding and slowing demand for online learning services.
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A senior executive from Byju’s’ new auditing firm MSKA and Associates said recently the company now faces an issue continuing as a going concern. A going concern is an accounting term for a company that has the resources to continue operating for the foreseeable future, in this case, the next 12 months.
