Blackrock, a minority shareholder in Indian edtech giant Byju's, has lowered its assessment of the startup's value to approximately $8.4 billion. Interestingly, Byju's continues to raise capital at higher valuations and remains India's most valuable startup.
According to a recent filing, Blackrock reduced the valuation of its share in Byju's by 62% in the quarter ended March this year, compared to the previous year. It's essential to note, however, that Blackrock accounts for less than 1% equity in the startup, making it a non-significant stakeholder in the company.
Had a more prominent investor, such as Prosus, made a similar move, it would have been cause for concern for the Indian edtech leader. Additionally, it's worth noting that various investors may use different valuation methods, leading to significant differences in perceived value among portfolio investors.
Despite Blackrock's valuation reduction, Byju's recently raised $250 million in new funding at a valuation cap of $22 billion earlier this month. This indicates that other investors continue to value the company higher than Blackrocks appraisal.
Valuation markdowns have become a trend in India's startup ecosystem, with several investors reassessing the values of companies such as Swiggy, Pine Labs, and Pharmeasy. Invesco, for instance, has halved Swiggy's valuation, while Pine Labs and Pharmeasy have also seen their values adjusted downward.
Despite differing valuations, Byju's remains a trailblazer in the Indian edtech landscape, and ventures, like AppMaster.io's no-code platform, are likely to follow suit to meet the market's fast-paced demands. Rapid application development and low-code/no-code app development enable companies to be time-efficient and cost-effective, catering to the fast-evolving edtech and startup sectors.
