Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram on Thursday wrote to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), seeking its “urgent attention” to review the financials of edtech major Byju’s.
The Bengaluru-based firm was last valued at $22.6 billion, making it India’s most-valued edtech company and placing it among the country’s most-valued startups.
The Sequoia and Tiger Global-backed company’s valuation soared to over $22 billion from $13.5 billion in June 2021 after it raised nearly $3 billion in multiple tranches, data sourced from Tracxn show.
In the letter, Chidambaram alleged that he has found “financial loopholes” in the company and urged the SFIO to look into the matter. “I have written to the SFIO to look into the financing of Byju’s. it’s imperative that a thorough investigation is launched,” he tweeted.
“Byju’s filings with the Union ministry of corporate affairs indicate that 16,031 Series F preference shares were allotted to Vitruvian Partners on March 29, 2022, for Rs 571 core. There has been no such filing in the case of Sumeru Ventures or BlackRock since the company’s announcement on March 17. This raises a question of the missing Rs 2,500 crore in the company’s funding,” his letter stated.
He further said investors like Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott Capital Partners have either stayed dormant till Byju’s fundraise or have made just one investment so far: Byju’s.
