From Aakash to Whitehat Jr, how Byju’s acquisitions performed in FY22

Whitehat Jr and OSMO were the most underperforming assets of Byju’s in FY22, accounting for almost 45 percent of the total losses of the embattled edtech firm.

Byju’s on January 23 filed its much-awaited FY22 results, almost 22 months after the reporting period ended.

Of the total Rs 8,370 loss (before tax) reported by Byju's for the financial year FY22, Rs 3,800 crore came from the two subsidiaries.

As per the financials, Whitehat Jr, a startup focusing on online coding classes for kids, dragged the overall performance of the edtech significantly with a loss (before tax) of Rs 2,877 crore compared to Rs 1,549 crore in the previous fiscal.

The EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) loss for the year was Rs 2,358 crore while the total income dropped 0.9X times from Rs 326.67 crore to Rs 295.11 crore in FY22.

Byju's had acquired the platform in 2020 for $300 million.

The other subsidiary—Tangible Play (OSMO) –followed a similar trajectory and reported 58 percent jump in losses (before tax) at Rs 946 crore. The total income generated was down by 7.8 percent at Rs 553 crore in FY22.

Acquired back in 2019 in a deal worth $120 million, the US-based startup develops apps for kids that use offline input.

The EBITDA loss stood at Rs 852 crore, up by 346 percent.

Byju's FY22 results

Aakash to the rescue

While the two acquisitions did not fare well for Byju’s in FY22, Aakash Education Services and Great Learning paid off, clocking income growth of 40 and 70 percent, respectively, post deal in 2021.

Byju’s earned Rs 1491 crore total income from Aakash while upskilling platform Great Learning contributed Rs 628 crore in FY22.

In September, Moneycontrol has reported that the edtech has put Great Learning up for sale and has held preliminary talks with potential buyers, expecting to fetch about $400 million from the sale of the upskilling platform.

Byju's had paid about $350 million to acquire Great Learning in 2021. The discussions for the sale of Great Learning are still in the early stages.

“Excluding WHJ and OSMO, Byju’s clocked 3X growth in its total income in FY22 at Rs 4450 crore,” it said in a press release.

Overall, the troubled edtech firm's consolidated revenue jumped 118 percent from Rs 2,428 crore in FY21 to Rs 5,298 crore in FY22.