Edtech company BYJU’S closes Aakash deal payments

BENGALURU:  Edtech firm BYJU’S on Monday said it closed payments to tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services. The Edtech firm had acquired Aakash for about $1 billion last year. BYJU’S spokesperson said,

“Our payments to Aakash are closed and the audited financial results are going to be announced in the next 10 days.” Last week, there were reports saying that the Edtech platform has been delaying payments, and has sought an extension. The company had said that the acquisition process of Aakash is fully on track and all payments are expected to be completed by the agreed-upon date i.e., August 2022.

The edtech giant also said that its fundraising is on track. “Our fundraising efforts are on track and the majority of the $800 million has been already received. The balance is also expected soon.” In March this year, the company said it had raised $800 million in a round and close to $400 million was contributed by CEO Byju Raveendran.

Sumeru Ventures, BlackRock and Vitruvian Partners participated in the round, and it valued the company at about $22 billion. During the fundraising round, Byju Raveendran said, “We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and global markets via both organic and inorganic routes. Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners.”