India’s edtech major Byju’s, once hailed as the poster child of the country’s startup ecosystem, has sold off two of its high-profile U.S. acquisitions—Epic and Tynker—at significantly reduced valuations, marking a new low in the company’s ongoing financial and operational crisis. The asset sales were recently approved by a U.S. bankruptcy court on May 20, according to a report published by EdWeek Market Brief.
Byju’s had acquired children’s digital reading platform Epic in 2021 for $500 million, and coding education platform Tynker for $200 million, as part of its aggressive global expansion strategy aimed at bolstering its presence in the North American edtech market. However, in a distressed deal, TAL Education, a China-based education company, has now acquired Epic for $95 million, while CodeHS, a U.S. computer science education platform, has purchased Tynker for a mere $2.2 million in cash—representing a loss of over 90% on both transactions.
These fire-sale disposals are part of a broader restructuring and asset divestment process initiated by Byju’s to address its mounting debt obligations, legal battles with lenders, and a severe liquidity crunch. The company’s U.S. subsidiary, Byju’s Alpha, was at the center of a contentious legal dispute involving loan defaults, asset freezes, and mismanagement allegations, eventually leading to court-directed auctions of the assets.
The collapse in valuation underscores the extent of the company’s missteps and its struggle to regain control amid governance challenges and dwindling investor confidence. Byju’s has come under sharp scrutiny for repeated delays in financial disclosures and is yet to file audited financial reports for FY23, FY24, or FY25, raising serious questions about transparency and regulatory compliance.
Further compounding the crisis, several of Byju’s key acquisitions in India, including Great Learning and Aakash Institute, have reportedly distanced themselves from the parent company in recent months. Both companies are now said to be operating independently, signaling internal fragmentation within the group.
Once valued at $22 billion and backed by marquee global investors, Byju’s has seen a dramatic fall from grace in the past two years, plagued by governance lapses, failed international bets, and growing discontent among stakeholders. The forced sale of Epic and Tynker reflects a broader unraveling of its once-ambitious global edtech empire.
