New Delhi

Dutch investment firm Prosus has written off its 9.6 per cent stake in Byju's, recording a fair value loss of 493 million dollars.

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Prosus had invested $500 million in Byju's, marking one of the largest ed-tech bets in India. Interestingly, Byju's was valued by the firm at about $5.1 billion in March 2023. Since then, the valuation has been marked down multiple times. Recently, financial firm HSBC also stated that its 10 per cent stake in the company is worth zero. Not only the company, but founder Byju's Raveendran's net worth has also crashed to zero.

Prosus had earlier cited performance issue as a major factor plaguing Byju's. The firm was reportedly 'tired' of fixing the company at every step.

Blackrock also recently wrote off its investment in Byju's, saying the once 'hot company' is worth nothing. Blackrock was also the first investor to publicly signal the company's troubles and had slashed its valuation of the startup to less than $1 billion.

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Byju's has been suffering major financial stumbles in recent times. The problems compounded when the company failed to meet financial reporting deadlines and reported low revenues last year.

Byju's tried to raise $200 million this year at a drastically reduced valuation to breathe some life-line into the company, but that effort was also entangled in legal disputes with investors. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has prohibited Byju from proceeding with the $200 million rights issue.