Shah Rukh Khan promoted it. Lionel Messi featured in its global campaigns.
During the pandemic, millions of students logged into its classes every day.
At its peak, Byju’s was valued at $22 billion and seen as the future of Indian education.
But by 2026, the company was battling debt, lawsuits and investor disputes across countries. Its founder, Byju Raveendran, was sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court in a contempt case linked to financial disclosures and frozen assets.
So how did one of India’s biggest startup success stories unravel?
A Teacher Before A CEO
Long before Byju’s became a billion-dollar company, it began with one man teaching maths.
Byju Raveendran grew up in Kerala and studied engineering at a government college. After graduation, he worked at a shipping company. But teaching remained his real interest.
He started helping students prepare for competitive exams, especially CAT entrance tests. His teaching style quickly became popular among students because he simplified complex topics and explained them in an easy, conversational way.
In 2007, he turned this into a small coaching business. There were no flashy offices or startup investors at the beginning. It was just classrooms, whiteboards and packed sessions with students.
As more students joined, the idea slowly evolved from coaching classes into an education business.
The App That Changed Everything
The real turning point came in 2015 when Byju’s launched its learning app.
The timing worked perfectly. Smartphones were becoming common across India, and parents were increasingly looking for digital learning tools for their children. The app allowed students to study from home, watch recorded lessons and learn at their own pace.
Investors quickly noticed the company’s growth.
Major global firms, including Sequoia Capital and BlackRock, invested in Byju’s. By 2017, the app had become a household name in India. Shah Rukh Khan joined as the brand ambassador, and the company’s advertisements appeared everywhere from television to cricket stadiums.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
As schools shut down during lockdowns, online education exploded worldwide. Byju’s became one of the most-used edtech platforms globally. In 2022, the company claimed it had more than 150 million learners worldwide.
Its expansion became aggressive and ambitious.
The company acquired multiple businesses, including Aakash Educational Services, Epic and Osmo. It expanded physical learning centres while also growing internationally. Byju’s sponsored the Indian cricket team and became associated with the FIFA World Cup through campaigns featuring Lionel Messi.
That same year, the company’s valuation peaked at around $22 billion.
The Growth Started Cracking
But behind the rapid growth, financial pressure was building.
After the pandemic, students slowly returned to classrooms. Demand for online learning began to decline. Yet Byju’s continued spending heavily on marketing, acquisitions and expansion.
Its costs kept rising while revenue growth slowed down.
According to reports, losses widened to around Rs. 4,500 crore in a year. At the same time, some parents accused the company’s sales teams of using aggressive tactics. Several complaints claimed families were pressured into buying expensive courses or taking loans to pay for them.
In late 2022, Byju’s laid off nearly 2,500 employees, around 5% of its workforce.
The company’s troubles deepened in 2023.
Auditors resigned, reportedly citing delays in financial reporting and concerns around transparency. India’s Enforcement Directorate also conducted searches linked to Byju Raveendran and the company in Bengaluru.
Investigators examined foreign investments and overseas fund transfers worth thousands of crores. Questions were raised over spending on advertising, acquisitions and international expansion.
At the same time, the company was already dealing with another major problem, a $1.2 billion loan from US-based lenders.
The Loan Battle That Reached Courtrooms
The loan came with strict conditions about how funds would be used and reported.
But lenders later alleged that large sums were moved through offshore entities and that they were not receiving complete financial transparency.
One major issue involved a Singapore-based company connected to Byju’s financial structure. Questions emerged around ownership details and asset disclosures.
As the legal fight escalated, Singapore courts issued asset freeze orders. These orders prevented Raveendran and related entities from moving certain assets while the dispute continued.
However, the court later ruled that the required disclosures and documents were not fully submitted.
Under Singapore law, failing to comply with such orders can amount to contempt of court.
After multiple hearings, the court concluded that its directions had repeatedly not been followed. In May 2026, the Singapore court sentenced Byju Raveendran to six months in jail for contempt of court.
The court also ordered him to pay legal costs of about 90,000 Singapore dollars, roughly Rs. 67 lakh.
“This Is Not Fraud”
Raveendran has denied wrongdoing throughout the case.
He described the matter as a “procedural contempt” issue linked to document submissions, not fraud or dishonesty.
“There has been no wrongdoing on my part or on the part of the other founders,” he said.
He also stated that settlement talks with lenders and investors were nearing completion and that he planned to appeal the decision.
For now, the story of Byju’s remains unfinished.
What started as a small classroom teaching setup became one of India’s biggest startup success stories before turning into one of its biggest cautionary tales.
Today, the company’s future is being decided not in classrooms, but in courtrooms and boardrooms across the world.
