Byju’s brought in Rs 28,000 crore FDI, more than any other startup: CEO – Times of India

Hours after the ED said it has conducted searches and seizure action at three premises of edtech major Byju’s in Bengaluru under provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), founder and CEO Byju Raveendran wrote a mail to employees, conveying that the company has taken all efforts to comply with applicable foreign exchange laws. He added that all its cross-border transactions are routed only through regular banking channels.
“As we are funded by 70+ impact investors, who have satisfactorily done due diligence on our operations, including all FEMA compliance, we are confident that the authorities will also come to the same conclusion,” Rave-endran said in the mail, which was reviewed by TOI. It was sent late in the night on April 29.
The CEO reiterated that the company is fully co-operating with the authorities. Raveendran said Byju’s has spent nearly Rs 9,000 crore on overseas acquisitions over the years and, to fund them, the firm has remitted some of its funding overseas. Raveendran added that Byju’s has brought FDI worth Rs 28,000 crore into India, higher than any of its local startup peers. “And as a result, we have been able to create job opportunities for more than 55,000 talented professionals. This makes us India’s largest employer among startups.
The ED searches dealt a fresh blow to Byju’s, which has been battling a raft of allegations around unethicalbusiness practices. With a valuation of $22 billion, Byju’s is India’s most valued startup and has been backed by several hefty investors, including firms like General Atlantic and Tiger Global.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ED said that it has seized various “incriminating documents” through the course of its searches. Raveendran, the agency said, remained evasive and never appeared during the in-vestigation, which was initiated on the basis of various complaints it received against the startup.
The ED said Byju’s remitted nearly Rs 9,754 crore though 2011-2023 to various foreign jurisdictions in the name of overseas direct investment. The company, it said, has booked around Rs 944 crore in the name of advertisement and marketing expenses, including the amount remitted to foreign jurisdictions. “The information requested by and furnished to the officers in connection with the FDI raised, overseas investments made, and cross-border transactions relating to marketing and branding activities by Byju’s has previously been submitted by our authorised representatives,” Raveendran said in the mail