ED examines Byju’s numbers, probing foreign remittances to tune of nearly Rs 10,000 cr
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 29 carried out searches at three locations in Bengaluru related to Byju Raveendran and his company, Think & Learn Private Limited, which operates the popular online learning platform, in the latest setback for India’s most-valued startup.
The search was conducted under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents and digital data.
whats is Byju’s
Byju’s is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. As of March 2022, Byju’s is valued at US$22 billion. As of April 2023, the company claims to have over 150 million registered students.
ED has conducted searches at 3 premises in Bengaluru in the case of Raveendaran Byju and his company ‘Think & Learn Private Limited’ (Byju online learning platform) under the provisions of FEMA. During the search, various incriminating documents and digital data was seized.
— ED (@dir_ed) April 29, 2023
its debt-financing arrangements.
Byju’s had raised a term loan B (TLB) of $1.2 billion from a clutch of investors in 2021, one of the largest for Indian startups. The company also offered to increase the rate of interest on its $1.2 billion TLB as part of renegotiating its debt-financing arrangements. Creditors were also seeking prepayment of $200 million, according to a media report.
Byju’s has also been trying to raise as much as $700 million, part of which will be used to repay the debt. The company is planning to raise the new funds at its existing $22 billion valuation. This will be Byju’s second flat fundraise since October
