In a setback to Indian unicorns BYJU’s and Swiggy, US-based key investors have significantly marked down their market valuation, the media reported on Friday.
New York-based investment firm BlackRock in a private assessment has slashed the valuation of edtech major BYJU’s to $11.15 billion from its $22 billion valuation that the company keeps referring to, according to a report in The Arc, citing the filings.
“BYJU’s is India’s most valued startup. If other investors follow BlackRock, it may translate into the first major downgrade of an Indian decacorn after Flipkart in 2016,” the report said.
BlackRock had entered the edtech giant’s cap table at a $12 billion valuation in 2020. Its stake is under 1 per cent.
Sources had told IANS last week that BYJU’s is in advanced stages to raise $250 million at a flat valuation, as it struggles to repay a $1.2 billion term loan and turn profitable in 2023.
The sources told IANS that the latest funding round is in “final stages of discussion and will be closed soon within a few weeks”.
According to TechCrunch, online food delivery platform Swiggy has also been marked down to a valuation of about $8 billion by Georgia-based investment company Invesco, from its earlier valuation of nearly $11 billion.
Swiggy reached a $10.7 billion valuation in a round led by Invesco in January last year.
Both BYJU’s and Swiggy have slashed jobs in order to cut costs in the deepening funding winter.
