Byju's is weighing whether to shut down WhiteHat Jr.

Byju's is debating whether to shut down WhiteHat Jr., a coding platform it bought more than two years ago for $300 million in enterprise value, as the edtech group aims to cut costs and get rid of a business unit that has received a lot of negative press for the company. Three investor sources familiar with the situation told TechCrunch that the Bengaluru-based company, which has discussions about shutting down what was once hailed as one of its best acquisitions, has recently held conversations about shuttering what is currently valued at $22 billion and is India's most valuable startup. Although a decision has not been made, it is leaning towards carrying on with the business while concentrating on organic growth, according to a second source with knowledge of the situation. Additionally, the discussions take place at a time when Byju's is reducing costs corporate-wide. The company, which recently reduced its marketing spending and let thousands of people go, was spending approximately $14 million a month on the coding platform, one of the sources claimed. According to insiders, WhiteHat Jr. is not profitable on its own. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Image credit: Varindia[/caption] WhiteHat Jr. won't be shut down, according to a Byju's representative, who added that the company is "actively evaluating all our business units to ensure that they are aligned with our path to profitability."

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2020 saw the acquisition of WhiteHat Junior by Byju's for a $300 million enterprise value. One of the aforementioned sources who, like others, asked for anonymity to discuss private affairs stated that Byju's ultimately paid less than $235 million on the acquisition agreement since a significant portion of the payout, however, was related to future growth measures. Moreover, many people have criticized the coding unit for its false advertising, poor training, and pushy recruitment strategies. Infamously, WhiteHat Jr. also filed lawsuits against some of these detractors, which brought the company even more criticism. Then, it retracted the lawsuit. One of the sources claims that WhiteHat Jr. creator Karan Bajaj, who departed Byju's a year after the acquisition, has been in contact with investors recently to discuss raising money for his new firm. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image credit: The Economic Times[/caption] On another note, Byju's, which has received funding from Sequoia India, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tiger Global, B Capital, UBS, and General Atlantic, has spent the last year addressing numerous criticisms. In addition, Byju's announced last month that its sales representatives no longer went to students' homes to sell to their parents. Instead, the company now runs a test to see if a child's parents can afford the program before signing them up.