Byju to Layoff More Employees

Byju is one of many companies seeking to get leaner and survive by laying off employees. The India based education company has already laid off 2,500 employees in 2022. It now expects to lay off over 500 employees over the course of this year. This is in line with other technology firms that are taking this similar approach.

This edtech company is noteworthy because it has been able to raise funds from prominent venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, other partners that range from Tencent to Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Silver Lake Partners. Other prominent funding partners include the Qatar Investment Authority, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and BlackRock.

The firm has raised over $4B in funding and was valued at $22B. The valuation is likely to go down as tech continues to feel pain.

What is Byju’s? What went wrong with Byju? Why does it need to conduct a reduction in its workforce?  Let’s find out more.

“Byjus has raised more than $5 Billion dollars in its journey. That is more than ₹40,000 crore. Today they are struggling to repay their lenders. I still can’t understand how one person can blow thru 50% of the defence budget of Pakistan, and yet not be a viable business.” – The Kaipullai

What is Byju’s?

Byju is a multinational educational technology company founded in India in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. The company has since grown to become one of the largest edtech companies in the world, with over 150 million registered students.

Byju’s offers a variety of educational products and services, including online courses, live classes, and test preparation materials. 

The company’s flagship product is BYJU’S – The Learning App, which uses artificial intelligence to track each student’s progress and to recommend the best learning materials. Byju’s also offers products for professional development and corporate training.

Byju’s has been praised for its innovative approach to education and its ability to reach a large number of students. However, the company has also been criticized for its high prices and for its less than stellar marketing tactics.

Despite these criticisms, Byju remains a popular choice for students of all ages. The company’s personalized learning approach and its use of interactive content have made it a valuable resource for students who are looking for a more engaging and effective way to learn.

Here are some of the key features of Byju’s:

• Personalized learning: Byju’s uses artificial intelligence to track each student’s progress and to recommend the best learning materials. This ensures that each student is learning at their own pace and that they are getting the most out of their education.
• Interactive content: Byju’s uses a variety of interactive content, such as videos, animations, and games, to make learning more engaging. This helps to keep students motivated and engaged, which can lead to better learning outcomes.
• Gamification: Byju’s uses gamification techniques to motivate students and to keep them engaged. This involves incorporating game-like elements into the learning process, such as points, levels, and rewards. This can help to make learning more fun and enjoyable, which can lead to better learning outcomes.
• Live classes: Byju’s offers live classes with experienced teachers. This allows students to interact with their teachers in real time and to get personalized help and support.
• Test preparation: Byju’s offers test preparation materials for a variety of exams, including the SAT, ACT, and GMAT. This can help students to improve their scores on these important exams and to gain admission to their dream schools.

Byju is a leading educational technology company that is rapidly expanding its reach around the world. The company’s innovative approach to education and its ability to reach a large number of students have made it a popular choice for students of all ages.

What Went Well for Byju’s?

The edtech startup was able to grow and has around 100 million registered users. Of that total learner base, around an estimated 7% or at 7 million of these individuals pay for the service. 

The firm also saw increased adoption during the pandemic. It was able to position itself and show the right metrics to continue to wow investors and raise equity funding. It was able to have enough traction and progress to even raise debt funding as well.

What Went Wrong For Byju?

The growth part went well, the current issue is that pesky problem of monetization. 

The problem with Byju is that it is not a nonprofit, it must find a way to earn income and be profitable. It is not a profitable company at the present moment. 

Further, because it was able to raise debt, it needs to have the right cash on hand to be able to make its payments on the principal and on the interest. But if one is burning money on a regular basis, it is quite difficult to make the payments. 

That leads us to a real problem for Byju. It recently refused to pay $40 million of interest on a loan it obtained late last year. The firm has engaged  in a lawsuit suit against the lenders and does not intend on making any payments until a deliberation takes place.

In essence, the company was able to participate in the game of growth while prioritizing profits for later. A key part of the game of growth is spending money on marketing and advertising. 

Those who would benefit from this would include celebrities that it could have used to promote Byjus’s learning products, platforms like Linkedin (owned by Microsoft) and other partners that would obtain funds for marketing purposes.

Other parties that could benefit from a fast growing company are early investors, startups that were acquired by Byju’s (around 16). It might have spent over $5.17B on acquisitions.

As a part of this growth process, the company was able to hire over 10,000 employees. Then it would gain a broad range of users across the world at an accelerated clip.

It is presently stuck in the profitability stage. It might stay stuck there for quite some time. But why is that more likely? The global economy should contract further and that would put further pressure on business, and consumers. At the same time, technology is fantastic, it enables individuals to access courses and education for free. Byju’s apparently does a good job of designing the courses to keep young learners engaged but it is not able to do it at the level to where it attract more paying customers and justify its current valuation.

It will be fascinating to see the next steps for this company.