With a net worth of $16.5 billion, Byju’s is not only the most valued startup in India but also the most valued ed-tech startup in the world. Recently in March 2021, the startup raised $456.7 million and $350 million.
The company, operated by Bengaluru-based Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, has filed its consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. Let’s take a look at how Byju’s business grew during FY19-20 just before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
- Byju’s revenue from operations increased a strong 82.31% YoY in fiscal 2020, to Rs 2,381 crore.
- In just one year, Byju’s net loss soared from Rs 8.82 crore to Rs 262.1 crore. That’s nearly 30x increase in annual net losses.
- India accounted for a whopping 75.4% of the company’s consolidated revenue in FY20. Byju’s India revenue from operations amounted to Rs 1,795 crore, with a strong increase of 59% YoY.
- Byju’s revenue from outside India increased an astonishing 232.2% YoY in FY20, to Rs 586 crore.
- A whopping 70.4% of the company’s annual consolidated revenue came from the sales of tablets and SD cards bundled with its courses, making it Byju’s largest revenue contributor during fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.
- Byju’s consolidated revenue came from the sales of tablets and SD cards increased an astonishing 132% YoY during FY20, to Rs 1,675.7 crore. Interestingly, India accounted for over 90% of these overall sales.
- Byju’s revenue from the sale of reference books increased 22.2% YoY to Rs 560.6 crore during the last fiscal year. That’s nearly 23.5% of the company’s total revenue.
- Byju’s revenue from tuition and service fees amounted to Rs 144.7 crore with an increase of 15.8% YoY.
- It is important to note that Byju’s maintained a healthy positive net cash flow from its operations, that increased 66% YoY to Rs 126.6 crore during FY20.
- Byju’s total expenses skyrocketed 119.5% YoY in FY20, to Rs 3,022 crore. Nearly 40% of these were spent on advertising and promotional activities.
- It’s important to note that Byju’s spent Rs 1.27 to earn a single rupee of operating revenue on a consolidated basis.
- Byju’s advertising and promotional expenses skyrocketed 156.9% YoY in FY20, to Rs 1,175.6 crore. During the fiscal year, the company spent approximately Rs 162 crore on Indian cricket team sponsorships.
- Byju’s has boosted its spending on the production and procurement of educational content to keep up with the growing number of students on its e-learning platform. The company spent 15.2% of its annual expenses on the production of streaming content and study material. These expenses soared a strong 81.3% YoY to Rs 458 crore during FY20.
- Byju’s travelling and conveyance expense had swelled to Rs 266.4 crore during FY20, up 202.7% YoY.
Food For Thought
Byju’s – The Learning App was launched in 2015. The company has grown faster than any other ed-tech startup in India over the last 2-3 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has become a windfall for Byju’s as a growing number of new students have begun to use their platform, and existing students have begun to spend more time on this learning app.
Therefore, in a bid to become a one-stop platform for all educational requirements, the Bengaluru-based company has made some of the largest acquisitions, such as WhiteHat Jr, Aakash Educational Services, Epic, Great Learning, and Toppr, among others.
It would be interesting to see if Byju’s can reduce its expenses and net losses in the coming years.
