Top shareholders at BYJU’S have demanded that the company meet certain conditions such as founder Byju Raveendran loosening his day-to-day control over operations before they consider any future capital infusion into the struggling edtech firm, The Economic Times reported on Wednesday.
These investors have also asked the company to file its audited financials for the year ended March 31, 2023, at the earliest.
BYJU’S needs around $120-130 million in fresh financing in the next couple of months to run operations even with additional cost-cutting that is planned.
Earlier this month, BYJU’S reported audited results for 2022 but only for its core business, not including its multi-billion dollar acquisitions, after a year-long delay due to governance issues and its auditor resigning.
“For anything to move from existing investors, audited FY23 financials would be required,” a source told The Economic Times, noting that “the audited FY22 data is 18 months old, what matters is where the business is now and that will come through the FY23 numbers, even as it (Byju’s) is looking to sell assets for other reasons”.
Meanwhile, Manipal Education and Medical Group chairman Ranjan Pai extended around Rs 250-270 crore in fresh funding to BYJU’S a few weeks back, the report said.
Responding to The Economic Times’s queries on the developments, a spokesperson for BYJU’S said: “We have constructive engagement with the existing shareholders on all crucial matters. We are also in discussions with multiple sources of capital for fresh fundraising, which is currently underway.”
BYJU’S is looking to raise up to $1 billion by selling at least two companies it acquired in 2021 — Great Learning and Epic — Reuters reported in September.
The company has also been negotiating the repayment of a $1.2-billion loan in the last few months.