Is Baiju dead? Valuations are constantly fluctuating… | Posted by Derwin Ho | Coins | February 2024

In the wild world of startups, valuations fluctuate constantly.

Byju’s journey from a dazzling $22 billion valuation to a sobering $1 billion valuation is a stark reminder of the volatile nature of technology valuations.

Like many unicorn stories, Byju’s journey is filled with ambitious expansions, celebrity endorsements, and reality checks that hit harder than rejection from her high school crush.

Once a symbol of India’s education technology boom, Byju’s valuation has soared to $22 billion and attracted the attention of heavyweights such as BlackRock and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Imagine an edtech company turning into a unicorn and racing to a valuation comparable to the tech giants.

It’s like a school project that suddenly gets asked for a Nobel Prize!

That’s amazing for any founder and I have a lot of respect for that.

But fast forward to today and things are very different.

“Byju’s Alpha, the US arm of Indian edtech Byju’s, is struggling with financial issues. As Bloomberg reported, it filed for bankruptcy due to a massive default on $1.2 billion in debt.”

One of the investors, BlackRock, maliciously slashed Byju’s valuation.

It’s like watching a high-flying rocket suddenly lose altitude and return to Earth.

From $22 billion to $1 billion.

It’s really bad.

Why, how, what?

What caused this dramatic failure?

Well, it’s a mix of overextension, aggressive marketing, and perhaps a little bit of overconfidence.

In its heyday, Byju’s sponsored everything from the Indian cricket team to the football World Cup and even had Lionel Messi at its side.

It’s like a small-town actor suddenly headlines Broadway, but then the curtains suddenly close.