Nearly all the top investment banks are chasing Byjus, and nudging the most important Indian startup to explore the public markets seriously as soon as possible.
According to two sources with knowledge, while most banks have offered Byjus a proposal valuation of between $40 billion and $45 billion, Morgan Stanley has suggested a valuation of $50 billion if the startup is listed next year.
The startup has raised $1.5 million since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2011. It was valued at $16.5 billion.
This excitement by the banks comes as India's public market shows a strong interest in consumer tech stocks. Food delivery Zomato had a stellar $1.3 billion debut on Indian stock exchanges last month. Several other high-profile startups, including Nykaa and PolicyBazaar, Nykaa and Ixigo, have also filed paperwork for their IPOs.
Byju Raveendran, the founder and chief executive at the eponymous startup (pictured above), has suggested publicly that the company may be listed within two to three years. A senior executive who requested anonymity because the matter is confidential and an investor said that the startup has not established a timeline for an IPO.
The likelihood of Byjus raising another capital is high. According to people, Byjus has been inundated with requests by investors to raise funds at an estimated $21.5 billion.
A significant amount of the startup's recent fundraises has been used to purchase firms. It acquired Aakash, an Indian physical coaching institute, for almost $1 billion earlier this year. It also bought Great Learning and Epic from the U.S., among other things, for more than $1 billion in stock and cash deals.
Byjus helps students prepare for undergraduate and graduate-level classes. In recent years, it has expanded its catalogue to all students. The Byjus app has tutors who help students with complex topics using real-life objects like pizza and cake.
New Delhi had to institute a nationwide lockdown for several months and close schools due to the pandemic. This accelerated its growth and that of other online learning startups like Unacademy or Vedantu.
Byjus claimed that it has over 80 million users. 5.5 million of these are paying subscribers. According to one person familiar with the matter, Byjus is expected to bring in $300 million in U.S. revenue this year. It could also generate as much as $1.1 billion overall revenue by the end of the year.
Byjus declined comment.
