Edtech company Byju’s has started firing more employees from its workforce, according to sources aware of the matter. This is the third instance of mass layoffs at the Bengaluru-based company since October last year and second time in 2023.
As per sources, around 500-1,000 employees are expected to be impacted by the decision.” Besides Byju’s, senior employees including leadership at Whitehat Jr also asked to resign voluntarily,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity.
Entrackr reached out to Byju’s but the company refused to comment on the story.
The layoffs have touched several departments including logistics, training, sales, post-sales, and finance. Moneycontrol reported the development first.
In total, Byju’s has fired over 4,000 employees in the three phases. In October, the Morning Context reported that Byju’s will lay off around 12,000 employees over the next year(2023). Byju’s, however, denied the numbers then.
The development has come at a time when Byju’s is dealing with loan default and heavy public and media scrutiny. After failing to make debt installment payments, it filed a complaint with the New York Supreme Court to challenge acceleration of the $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB) and to disqualify lender Redwood for its predatory practice. The Tiger Global-backed company alleged that Redwood purchased a significant portion of the loan while primarily trading in distressed debt.
Hitting back at Byju’s, a group of lenders including Redwood has termed the suit meritless and an effort to avoid complying with its obligations.
Byju’s has been finding it tough to raise new funds in the wake of stagnant growth and challenging market conditions but somehow it managed to raise $250 million via structured credit transaction from US-based alternative investment firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management. On the lines of several hyper-valued companies, Byju’s also faced a valuation markdown with BlackRock cutting its valuation by nearly half to $11.5 billion. As per media reports, it is in the market to raise $1 billion at a flat valuation i.e. $22 billion.
