Sale of devices appeared to be the biggest contributor for Byju’s during fiscal year 2019-20 even as losses grew nearly 30 times during the period under review.
Bjyu’s which recently became the most valued startup in India has witnessed around 80% growth in its consolidated net sales during FY19-20 as compared to a year before, as per the regulatory filings of the company.
The company, operated by Bengaluru-based Thing and Learn Pvt Ltd, had registered Rs 2,380 crore in income during the corresponding period as compared to Rs 1,305 crore earned a year ago.
Even though the company continues to maintain a steady momentum in topline growth, the consolidated losses widened to Rs 262 crore.
The company, which got some of the biggest cheques this year from institutional investors, utilised a considerable part of the funding in expenses, particularly on advertorial front.
However, the expenditure couldn’t deliver expected income for the edtech major.
It saw its annual expenses jump by 119.50% to around Rs 3,022 crore during FY20.
Also the sale of devices outedged reference books, possibly the biggest sales churner for the company.
Sale of tablets and SD cards, usually sold to students as part of package, account for 63% of the business that fiscal from 55% a year ago.
Interestingly, the edtech giant had to shell out Rs 277 crore for the devices it offered to students and gained Rs 1,334 crore.
Byju’s valuation has skyrocketed since last year as the pandemic has fuelled an online learning boom with parents enrolling kids in online classes.
Byju’s has more than 65 million subscribers, but the edtech startup has seen faster growth over the past year, with at least 25 million new users signing up to use its platform after the lockdown was announced last year in March.
In a bid to make it one-stop platform for educational requirements, the company has struck some of the largest acquisitions, namely likes of test preparation firm WhiteHat Jr, Aakash Educational Services, Great Learning and Toppr, among others.
In June this year, Byju’s had raised $1.5 billion from UBS Group, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ, Blackstone Group, among others, at a valuation of $16.5 billion.
In April, Byju’s had raised over $1 billion from investors led by Baron Funds, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group, and US-based investment hedge fund XN Exponent Holding.
The fundraising valued the company at around $15 billion.
