Billionaire-Owned EdTech Firm Byju’s Faces Yet Another Crisis As Deloitte Resigns As Auditor by Anu Raghunathan
Monday, June 12, 2023, 06:00 AM
Beleaguered edtech company Byju’s parent Think & Learn, which not long ago was the world most valuable edtech company valued at $22 billion, has plunged into yet another crisis. The company’s auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned this week, citing inordinate delays in filing its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.On the heels of that resignation, Byju’s announced that it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its auditor for five years starting retrospectively from the fiscal year 2022. There were also reports that three board members had resigned following the auditor’s announcement but Byju’s denied that calling it “entirely speculative.”
As for the new auditor, Byju’s noted in a release that “BDO will cover the holding company—Think and Learn, its material subsidiaries such as Aakash Education Services Limited as well as the overall group consolidated results. This comprehensive audit coverage will provide a holistic view of Byju's financial performance and ensure transparency across the organization.”
Beleaguered edtech company Byju’s parent Think & Learn, which not long ago was the world most valuable edtech company valued at $22 billion, has plunged into yet another crisis. The company’s auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned this week, citing inordinate delays in filing its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.
On the heels of that resignation, Byju’s announced that it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its auditor for five years starting retrospectively from the fiscal year 2022. There were also reports that three board members had resigned following the auditor’s announcement but Byju’s denied that calling it “entirely speculative.”
As for the new auditor, Byju’s noted in a release that “BDO will cover the holding company—Think and Learn, its material subsidiaries such as Aakash Education Services Limited as well as the overall group consolidated results. This comprehensive audit coverage will provide a holistic view of Byju's financial performance and ensure transparency across the organization.”
Beleaguered edtech company Byju’s parent Think & Learn, which not long ago was the world most valuable edtech company valued at $22 billion, has plunged into yet another crisis. The company’s auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned this week, citing inordinate delays in filing its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.
On the heels of that resignation, Byju’s announced that it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its auditor for five years starting retrospectively from the fiscal year 2022. There were also reports that three board members had resigned following the auditor’s announcement but Byju’s denied that calling it “entirely speculative.”
As for the new auditor, Byju’s noted in a release that “BDO will cover the holding company—Think and Learn, its material subsidiaries such as Aakash Education Services Limited as well as the overall group consolidated results. This comprehensive audit coverage will provide a holistic view of Byju's financial performance and ensure transparency across the organization.”
Beleaguered edtech company Byju’s parent Think & Learn, which not long ago was the world most valuable edtech company valued at $22 billion, has plunged into yet another crisis. The company’s auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned this week, citing inordinate delays in filing its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.
On the heels of that resignation, Byju’s announced that it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its auditor for five years starting retrospectively from the fiscal year 2022. There were also reports that three board members had resigned following the auditor’s announcement but Byju’s denied that calling it “entirely speculative.”
As for the new auditor, Byju’s noted in a release that “BDO will cover the holding company—Think and Learn, its material subsidiaries such as Aakash Education Services Limited as well as the overall group consolidated results. This comprehensive audit coverage will provide a holistic view of Byju's financial performance and ensure transparency across the organization.”
Calls to founder Byju Raveendran and his wife and cofounder Divya Gokulnath were not returned.
Analysts say that at least some of Byju’s problems stem from the fact that it didn’t pivot fast enough from an online platform to hybrid and offline offerings. During the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 100 million students had enrolled on its eponymous app. But with schools re-opening the online model lost its sheen.
“Their model ceased to have relevance post-Covid,” says Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of digital consulting and investment company 5F World. “And too little was done—and too late—to change that. All investors will have to take a huge haircut”
The company’s valuation was already marked down twice by minority investor BlackRock, which slashed the valuation to $11.5 billion in October and further to $8.4 billion in May.
Byju Raveendran’s personal fortune is down to $1.3 billion from its peak of $2.9 billion in March 2022.
The Bangalore company had reported a 3% drop in revenue and a net loss of 45.6 billion rupees ($573 million) for the financial year ended March 31, 2021- even as its operating expenses more than doubled.
Byju’s—founded by former teacher Byju Raveendran in 2011—has a list of marquee investors including private equity giants like Tiger Global and Sequoia as well as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
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