$22bn valuation to bankruptcy and missing $533mn: How Byju's unravelled across two continents
The edtech major’s fall hit a new inflection point in Dec 2025, when a US court issued a $1.07bn default judgment tied to the disputed $533mn Alpha funds, even as founder Byju Raveendran denies wrongdoing and battles insolvency and creditor claims across continents
On a winter afternoon in late 2022, Byju Raveendran stood on a stage in Bengaluru addressing a hall packed with founders, investors, policymakers and journalists. India’s most valuable startup founder spoke with the conviction of someone building a global education empire. “Every year, in the last five years, we have invested $200 million into our product development... in the last six years, we have invested $1.3 billion in creating our product,” he told the room. It was the kind of line he would continue repeating even as his company tumbled from a $22 billion valuation into a bankrupt, litigation-ridden entity.
At that moment, no one in the audience anticipated what the next three years would bring. But there were signs.
Days earlier, the company had simultaneously laid off employees amid a post-pandemic slowdown in edtech and unveiled Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador. The contrast added an undercurrent of unease to the event.
At that moment, no one in the audience anticipated what the next three years would bring. But there were signs.
Days earlier, the company had simultaneously laid off employees amid a post-pandemic slowdown in edtech and unveiled Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador. The contrast added an undercurrent of unease to the event.