Byju’s delivers handsome returns to Sequoia, Times Internet, Zuckerberg and promoters

There’s something unique about Byju’s which has become the most valuable edtech company in the world. Be it the way it dominates the edtech market, raising funds from global investors, or achieving profitability, Byju’s has climbed every ladder and has currently occupied a seat among the top three valuable unicorns in India.

In its eight years of journey, Byju’s has also kept a keen focus on its employees and stakeholders through ESOPs or hefty returns on investment, respectively.

The Bengaluru-based company has fetched some lucrative returns for its existing investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet, SCHF PV Mauritius, and Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropic organization - the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

One of the early backers of the company, Sequoia has received 21.13 times of its Rs 78.8 crore investment amounting to Rs 1,665.33 crore during FY19. The data mentioned in Byju’s regulatory filing further revealed that Times Internet has made a 7X return amounting to Rs 206.82 crore during the same period.

The secondary shares transaction programme has also benefited SCHF PV Mauritius which by investing Rs 27.3 crore in the company, has managed to bag Rs 189.68 crore in return. Chan Zuckerberg, which backed Byju’s in September 2016, has got Rs 167.7 crore in return on its investment of Rs 22.86 crore.

These investors have offloaded their respective shares to the existing backers of Byju’s including General Atlantic, Naspers Ventures and Canada Pension Plan, in the partial exit scheme.

Apart from the investors, promoters and co-founder of Byju’s have also made a killing in the transaction, though they did not invest any money in the company. According to the filings, Divya Gokulnath Ravindran and Zeus Education Promoter’s ROI amount stood at Rs 495.76 crore and Rs 32.3 crore respectively.

Notably, Byju’s is among a few consumer internet companies where founders hold more than 30% stake even after eight years of operations.

It recently got backing from New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global at a valuation of $8 billion. Till date, the firm has raised over $1.15 billion across several rounds. 

Byju’s joins the likes of  Paytm, OYO, PolicyBazaar, Lenskart, Dream11, and most recently Swiggy, which have delivered a handsome return via secondary buyout to their investors in the past one or two years.