Byju’s Marketing Breakdown: Rs 8,029 Crore, Messi During Layoffs, and the $22 Billion Fall

• Amol Ghemud
• Byju’s Marketing Breakdown: Rs 8,029 Crore, Messi During Layoffs, and the $22 Billion Fall
• Published: April 29, 2026

Contributors: Amol Ghemud
Published: April 29, 2026

Summary

Byju’s spent Rs 8,029 crore on advertising and marketing between FY16 and FY22, which was 69 percent of its operating revenue during that period. In FY22 alone, the company spent Rs 4,134 crore on marketing, an 84 percent jump from FY21. Shah Rukh Khan served as brand ambassador from 2017 to 2023 at Rs 4 crore per year. The company signed Lionel Messi in November 2022 for $5-7 million annually, one month after laying off 2,500 employees. Byju’s paid Rs 1.51 crore per ICC cricket match for jersey sponsorship and spent $40 million to sponsor the FIFA World Cup 2022. The company reached a peak valuation of $22 billion in March 2022 with 150 million registered users. By 2024, the valuation crashed 92 percent to $1-3 billion. Byju’s defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and Rs 160 crore owed to BCCI. The company faced insolvency proceedings and closed all offices except Bengaluru. The marketing spend built massive brand awareness but could not compensate for product issues, aggressive sales tactics, and mounting debt.

When Byju’s signed Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador in November 2022, the company positioned it as a masterstroke. The world’s most expensive footballer would help the edtech giant expand globally. One month earlier, Byju’s had laid off 2,500 employees. The optics were catastrophic. The math was even worse.

Between 2016 and 2022, Byju’s spent Rs 8,029 crore on advertising and marketing. That is 69 percent of its total operating revenue of Rs 11,792 crore during the same period. The company spent more on celebrity endorsements, cricket sponsorships, and FIFA partnerships than most Indian startups raise in their entire lifetime. By March 2022, Byju’s reached a $22 billion valuation and 150 million registered users. By 2024, the valuation collapsed to $1-3 billion. A 92 percent crash.

This is the story of how marketing built a $22 billion brand and how the same marketing machine could not save a company from near-total collapse.

Key stats at a glance

Metric	Value
Total marketing spend FY16-FY22	Rs 8,029 crore
Operating revenue FY16-FY22	Rs 11,792 crore
Marketing as % of revenue	69%
FY22 marketing spend	Rs 4,134 crore
FY21 marketing spend	Rs 2,251 crore
Peak valuation	$22 billion (March 2022)
Current valuation	$1-3 billion (92% crash)
Registered users at peak	150 million (2022)
SRK endorsement fee	Rs 4 crore/year (2017-2023)
Messi deal	$5-7 million/year (Nov 2022)
FIFA World Cup sponsorship	$40 million (Rs 330 crore)
BCCI cricket sponsorship	Rs 1.51 crore per ICC match
Loan default	$1.2 billion (Goldman Sachs)
BCCI dues unpaid	Rs 160 crore

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The setup: Messi while the office burned

November 2022. Byju’s announced Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador for three years. The campaign was called Education for All. The timing was called tone-deaf.

One month earlier, in October 2022, the company had laid off 2,500 employees. More layoffs would follow in 2023. The optics were disastrous. A company cutting jobs to stay afloat was simultaneously signing the world’s most expensive footballer for an estimated $5-7 million per year.

Founder Byju Raveendran defended the move in an internal email. He told employees there was a lot to learn from Messi and the company was privileged to have him. The defense did not land. Critics pointed out that Byju’s was spending millions on brand building while employees were being shown the door.

This was not an isolated incident. It was a pattern. Byju’s had built a reputation for aggressive marketing spend even as financial fundamentals deteriorated. The Messi deal was just the most visible example of a larger problem.

The numbers that tell the real story

According to regulatory filings analyzed by afaqs, Byju’s total advertising expenditure from FY16 to FY22 was Rs 8,029 crore. During the same period, the company’s total operating revenue was Rs 11,792 crore. That means Byju’s spent 69 percent of every rupee it earned on advertising and marketing.

In FY21, when most edtech companies were cutting costs, Byju’s spent Rs 2,250.94 crore on marketing. That was three times more than the combined marketing spend of Unacademy, Vedantu, and upGrad, which together spent Rs 793.5 crore.

In FY22, Byju’s increased its marketing budget by 84 percent to Rs 4,134.94 crore. This was during a year when the company was already facing questions about profitability and unit economics.

The breakdown of where this money went reveals a celebrity-first, visibility-obsessed strategy.

Marketing spend breakdown by year

Fiscal year	Marketing spend	Year-on-year change
FY16	Data not disclosed	–
FY17	Data not disclosed	–
FY18	Data not disclosed	–
FY19	Data not disclosed	–
FY20	Data not disclosed	–
FY21	Rs 2,251 crore	–
FY22	Rs 4,135 crore	+84%
Total FY16-FY22	Rs 8,029 crore	–

Source: afaqs analysis of regulatory filings

What they actually spent money on

Byju’s marketing machine had three pillars. Celebrity endorsements, cricket sponsorships, and global visibility campaigns. All three cost a fortune. None of them fixed the underlying business issues.

Shah Rukh Khan: The family man

In 2017, Byju’s signed Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The annual fee was approximately Rs 4 crore. The deal ran until 2023 and was not renewed.

Khan was chosen for his family-friendly image. A father figure. A celebrated communicator. An aspirational icon for parents and children. The campaigns positioned Byju’s as a trusted learning partner. The persona congruence was strong.

But in 2021, Khan’s son Aryan was arrested in a drug-related case. The case later collapsed and Aryan was acquitted in May 2022. But the damage to Khan’s image affected Byju’s brand perception during a critical period. This is a structural risk of celebrity endorsements in high-trust categories like education. The brand’s reputation becomes inseparable from the celebrity’s personal circumstances.

Cricket: The jersey and the debt

In July 2019, Byju’s won the sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team jersey. The deal ran until 2023. The company paid Rs 1.51 crore for every ICC match. For bilateral matches, the fee was Rs 4.61 crore per match.

In 2022, Byju’s extended the deal until the end of 2023 for $55 million. The company then defaulted on Rs 160 crore in sponsorship payments. In November 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India dragged Byju’s to the National Company Law Tribunal for non-payment.

The cricket sponsorship gave Byju’s visibility during every India match. Millions of viewers saw the Byju’s logo on player jerseys. But visibility does not equal viability. The company could not afford to pay what it had committed.

Messi and FIFA: The global bet

In March 2022, Byju’s became the first Indian company to sponsor a FIFA World Cup. The Qatar 2022 sponsorship reportedly cost $40 million, or approximately Rs 330 crore.

Eight months later, in November 2022, the company signed Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador for three years. The deal was worth an estimated $5-7 million per year. The contract was put on hold after the first year due to liquidity issues.

The timing of the Messi deal drew widespread criticism. It came one month after Byju’s laid off 2,500 employees. The company was simultaneously cutting costs and signing one of the world’s most expensive brand ambassadors.

Founder Byju Raveendran later defended the decision in a May 2025 interview with News24. He said the deals were not impulsive. They were made when the company was at its best. He argued that aggressive marketing is normal for startups seeking rapid scale.

Why it worked initially

The marketing blitz was not irrational. It was deliberate. And for a while, it worked.

Byju’s went from 15 million registered users in 2018 to 150 million by March 2022. The growth was explosive. The brand became a household name. Parents saw Shah Rukh Khan promoting Byju’s. They saw the logo on Team India’s jersey. They saw Messi’s face in FIFA ads. The repeated exposure created trust.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption. Schools shut down. Parents scrambled to find online learning solutions. Byju’s offered free classes during the lockdown. App usage increased by 60 percent. The company captured nearly 50 percent of all edtech sector funding during the boom.

The aggressive marketing created a perception of legitimacy. If Shah Rukh Khan trusted Byju’s for his kids, why shouldn’t you? If the Indian cricket team wore the Byju’s logo, the company must be credible. The brand building worked because it tapped into emotional trust, not rational evaluation.

Investors rewarded this growth. Byju’s raised billions in funding. The valuation climbed from $1 billion in 2018 to $8 billion in 2020 to $22 billion in March 2022. The company became India’s most valuable startup.

But growth is not the same as sustainability.

Where it broke: When brand could not save the business

Marketing creates awareness. It does not fix a broken product. It does not solve unit economics. It does not compensate for aggressive sales tactics or mounting debt.

Byju’s faced multiple structural problems that no amount of celebrity endorsements could solve.

The disconnect: What they built vs what broke

Aggressive sales tactics

Former employees reported that the sales team was under immense pressure. Targets were unrealistic. Sales calls often pushed products on parents who could not afford them. Refund promises were made but not always honored. The company faced lawsuits from customers claiming mis-selling and hard sales tactics.

WhiteHat Jr, a Byju’s subsidiary acquired for $300 million, was asked by the Advertising Standards Council of India to remove five TV advertisements for being misleading. The ads made exaggerated claims about children securing high-paying jobs after completing coding courses.

Customer reviews on Trustpilot gave Byju’s a rating of 1.3 out of 5 stars by 2023. Complaints focused on refund delays, aggressive sales, and poor customer service. The brand awareness was high. The brand trust was collapsing.

Expensive acquisitions and mounting debt

Between 2020 and 2022, Byju’s spent more than $2.5 billion acquiring startups globally. WhiteHat Jr cost $300 million. Aakash Institute cost $1 billion. Other acquisitions included Tynker, Toppr, Great Learning, and Epic.

The acquisition spree was funded by debt. In 2021, Byju’s took a $1.2 billion term loan from overseas investors when interest rates were low. When rates rose, the debt became expensive. The company struggled to service the loan and eventually defaulted.

In January 2024, lenders initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Byju’s. In February 2024, Byju’s US division filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. The company sold Epic, originally acquired for $1 billion, for $500 million. A $500 million loss.

Regulatory scrutiny and governance issues

Byju’s delayed filing audited financial statements for 17 months. When the FY22 results were finally released, they showed a consolidated loss of Rs 8,245.2 crore. Investors Prosus, Peak XV Partners, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative resigned from the board in 2023. Five top executives exited.

The Enforcement Directorate accused Byju’s of Rs 9,000 crore FEMA violations in October 2023. The company faced government scrutiny for lapses in corporate governance. The regulatory heat made fundraising nearly impossible.

The fall: From $22 billion to near zero

In March 2022, Byju’s was valued at $22 billion. It had 150 million registered users, 58,000 employees, and was preparing for an IPO. By January 2024, the valuation had crashed to $225 million. A 99 percent decline.

The company closed all offices except its Bengaluru headquarters. Layoffs continued in waves. Acquiring new paid customers became nearly impossible. The offline tuition centers failed. Most acquired companies except Aakash were operating at losses.

Byju’s owed Rs 160 crore to BCCI and had defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan to Goldman Sachs. The company faced insolvency proceedings from multiple creditors. The marketing machine that built the brand could not save it from collapse.

Valuation timeline

Date	Valuation	Milestone
2018	$1 billion	Became India’s first edtech unicorn
March 2020	$8 billion	40 million users
October 2021	$16.5 billion	Series F funding
March 2022	$22 billion	Peak valuation, 150M users
June 2023	$2.7 billion	Investor markdown
January 2024	$225 million	99% crash
2024-2025	$1-3 billion	Current range

The lesson: Marketing cannot fix fundamentals

Byju’s story is a masterclass in what happens when brand building becomes a substitute for business building. The company spent Rs 8,029 crore creating awareness. It signed Shah Rukh Khan, Lionel Messi, and sponsored the FIFA World Cup. It put its logo on Team India’s jersey. It became a household name.

But awareness is not the same as trust. And trust is not the same as a viable business model. Byju’s aggressive sales tactics destroyed customer goodwill. Its expensive acquisitions created unsustainable debt. Its delayed financials and governance lapses scared away investors. No amount of celebrity endorsements could fix these problems.

The Messi deal in November 2022 symbolized the disconnect. The company was laying off thousands of employees while spending millions on global brand ambassadors. The message was clear. Optics mattered more than operations. Growth mattered more than sustainability.

Marketing works when it amplifies a good product. It fails when it becomes a distraction from a broken business. Byju’s built a $22 billion brand. But it could not build a profitable company. That is the difference between valuation and value.

What this means for edtech and growth-stage startups

Byju’s collapse has implications for any startup prioritizing growth over unit economics. The lessons apply beyond edtech.

First, celebrity endorsements create awareness but not loyalty. Shah Rukh Khan and Lionel Messi helped Byju’s reach millions of households. But when product quality and customer service failed, the celebrities could not save the brand. Loyalty is earned through consistent product experience, not borrowed through celebrity association.

Second, aggressive marketing cannot compensate for poor fundamentals. Spending 69 percent of revenue on advertising is sustainable only if the underlying business generates strong margins and repeat customers. Byju’s customer acquisition cost was high, retention was weak, and refund requests were frequent. The marketing spend masked these issues temporarily but could not solve them.

Third, debt-fueled growth works only in a low-interest environment. Byju’s $1.2 billion loan was taken when rates were near zero. When rates rose, the debt became a noose. Companies that rely on cheap capital to fund expansion are vulnerable when the cost of capital increases.

Fourth, governance matters more than valuation. Byju’s delayed its financial disclosures, faced regulatory scrutiny, and lost investor confidence. The valuation collapsed not just because of financial losses but because stakeholders no longer trusted the management. Governance failures are harder to recover from than revenue misses.

For startups in edtech, fintech, healthtech, or any category where trust is critical, the Byju’s playbook is a cautionary tale. Marketing builds visibility. Product builds trust. Operations build sustainability. All three need to work together. Overinvesting in one at the expense of the others creates a fragile business.

upGrowth works with edtech and growth-stage startups to build marketing strategies that align with business fundamentals. Our approach focuses on sustainable customer acquisition, retention-focused campaigns, and performance marketing that delivers measurable ROI. We help companies avoid the trap of growth at all costs and instead build marketing systems that scale profitably.

If you are building an edtech platform, SaaS product, or consumer business and need a marketing strategy that works beyond the next funding round, talk to our team.

Related strategies and services

Building a marketing strategy that scales sustainably requires expertise across multiple areas. upGrowth offers specialized services for edtech, SaaS, and growth-stage startups.

Our edtech marketing practice helps education companies acquire users through performance marketing, content-led growth, and community building. We focus on long-term retention and reducing customer acquisition costs, not just driving signups.

For companies preparing to launch or scale, our GTM strategy service builds market entry plans that align marketing, sales, and product. We help startups avoid the mistakes Byju’s made by ensuring that go-to-market execution matches business fundamentals.

Our fractional CMO service provides strategic marketing leadership without the cost of a full-time executive. For startups that need experienced guidance on marketing spend, channel mix, and brand positioning, this service offers senior-level oversight and accountability.

For companies running paid campaigns, our performance marketing service optimizes ad spend across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and other platforms. We track CAC, LTV, payback period, and ROAS to ensure every rupee delivers measurable return.

Explore our case studies to see how we have helped fintech and edtech companies build sustainable marketing systems. FlexiLoans, Fi.Money, and Scripbox are examples of clients who prioritized fundamentals over vanity metrics.

Conclusion

Byju’s spent Rs 8,029 crore between 2016 and 2022 to build one of India’s most recognizable brands. The company signed Bollywood’s biggest star, the world’s most expensive footballer, and sponsored the FIFA World Cup. It reached 150 million users and a $22 billion valuation.

None of it saved the company from collapse. By 2024, the valuation had crashed 92 percent. The company defaulted on loans, faced insolvency, and closed nearly all offices. The marketing machine built awareness. But it could not build a sustainable business.

The lesson is simple. Marketing amplifies what already works. It does not fix what is broken. Byju’s prioritized growth, valuation, and visibility. It deprioritized profitability, governance, and customer trust. The result was predictable.

For startups in any category, the Byju’s story is a reminder that fundamentals matter more than optics. Build a product people trust. Serve customers honestly. Manage finances responsibly. Market aggressively, but only after the foundation is solid. Anything else is just expensive noise.

Frequently asked questions

1. How much did Byju’s spend on marketing?

Byju’s spent Rs 8,029 crore on advertising and marketing between FY16 and FY22, which was 69 percent of its total operating revenue of Rs 11,792 crore during the same period.

2. Why did Byju’s sign Lionel Messi during layoffs?

Byju’s signed Lionel Messi in November 2022 as part of its global expansion strategy. The deal came one month after the company laid off 2,500 employees. Founder Byju Raveendran defended the move by saying it was planned when the company was performing well and that aggressive marketing is common for scaling startups.

3. What was Byju’s peak valuation and how much did it fall?

Byju’s reached a peak valuation of $22 billion in March 2022. By January 2024, the valuation had crashed to $225 million, a 99 percent decline. Current estimates place the valuation between $1-3 billion, representing a 92 percent fall from the peak.

4. How much did Byju’s pay Shah Rukh Khan?

Byju’s paid Shah Rukh Khan approximately Rs 4 crore per year as its brand ambassador. The deal ran from 2017 to 2023 and was not renewed after it expired.

5. Why did Byju’s default on its BCCI sponsorship?

Byju’s agreed to sponsor the Indian cricket team until 2023 and extended the deal for $55 million. However, the company defaulted on Rs 160 crore in payments. In November 2023, BCCI took Byju’s to the National Company Law Tribunal for non-payment as the company faced a severe cash crunch and liquidity crisis.

6. What happened to Byju’s FIFA World Cup sponsorship?

Byju’s became the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 for approximately $40 million or Rs 330 crore. The sponsorship was completed as planned. However, the Lionel Messi brand ambassador deal signed during the same period was put on hold after the first year due to financial constraints.

7. How many users did Byju’s have at its peak?

Byju’s had 150 million registered users at its peak in March 2022. The company grew from 15 million registered users in 2018, representing tenfold growth in four years.

8. What were the main reasons for Byju’s collapse?

Byju’s collapsed due to multiple factors. Aggressive sales tactics and mis-selling destroyed customer trust. Expensive acquisitions funded by debt created financial strain. A $1.2 billion loan default to Goldman Sachs triggered insolvency proceedings. Delayed financial disclosures and governance lapses caused investor exits. The company also faced regulatory scrutiny, including Rs 9,000 crore in alleged FEMA violations.

About the Author

Amol Ghemud

Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.