Indian multinational educational technology company, Byju’s is all set to go public before April 2023, and this has come directly from the founder of the company, Byju Raveendran. The company recently acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) in order to boost its presence in the test preparation market in India
Read on to find out all the details about Byju’s plans to go public!
Byju’s Acquisition Of Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) Biggest Till Date
As per reports, the deal will be the biggest acquisition by Byju’s till today, as it is worth close to $1 billion (about Rs 7,300 crore)
As per Raveendran, this acquisition will help build a concrete platform for the hybrid model of online and offline learning.
He states, “We could have created a hybrid model (for test preparation) ourselves, but that would have taken us 2-3 years to build and a total of five years to show results. Hence, with Aakash, we saw a real synergy coming together of conceptual learning.”
He also talked about how difficult it is to produce the same level of rigour and intensity of competitive exams online. He stated the need for a group studying environment and also the necessity of interaction between students and teacher that can be obtained offline.
The acquisition will enable a smooth fusion between the online and offline world, as per Byju.
Byju’s Founder Confirms Plans Of Going Public By 2023
He also confirmed the plans of the company going public, as that is the clear option for the company, given the growth of Byju’s. He said, “We are seriously thinking of an 18-24 months timeline to look at a public offering. But it can take a bit longer since we are in no hurry and will look at the right market timing.”
Byju’s is the most valued ed-tech startup in the country. It is backed by marquee investors like Mary Meeker, Yuri Milner, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and others. The company has reportedly raised more than USD 2 billion in funding to date.