BlackRock and Invesco have slashed the valuations of portfolio Indian startups Byju's and Swiggy, respectively, per filing documents reviewed by TechCrunch.
Edtech firm Byju's valuation has nearly halved from its peak of $22B to
$11.5B. Invesco marked down delivery app Swiggy's valuation from $10.7B
to about $8B.
- The drop in valuations reflects the impact of the weakening global economy on startups.
- Many
Indian startups avoided valuation cuts last year by raising funding
through convertible notes or avoiding fundraising altogether.
- SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son advised founders to accept lower valuations and raise down rounds or brace for a longer funding winter.
- Byju's was able to keep its $22B valuation at its last fundraiser in October 2022 through convertible debt financing, which pushed its valuation to a later date.
