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When Byju’s acquired Aakash Educational Services (AESL) for around $950 million in 2021, the test-prep chain was one of the key pieces of its offline expansion strategy. The idea was to combine Aakash’s classroom network and test-prep expertise with Byju’s technology and reach. Aakash did see a sharp jump in revenue after the acquisition. Its operating revenue rose 44.6% to Rs 1,421 crore in FY22 from Rs 983 crore in FY21. The company then continued to expand its centre network and student base. By March 2023, Aakash was expecting to close FY23 with around Rs 3,000 crore in revenue. At the time, it had expanded to 320 centres and had more than 4 lakh students. However, the company eventually reported operating revenue of Rs 2,399 crore for the year. Byju’s raised the bar further a few months later. In June 2023, while announcing plans to take Aakash public by mid-2024, the company said AESL was on track to clock Rs 4,000 crore in revenue and Rs 900 crore in EBITDA in FY24. The IPO, it was largely expected, would provide enough of a liquidity event for Byju’s to plan the next stage of its expansion without diluting any further equity. As it turned out, that target too remained out of reach. Aakash’s operating revenue increased marginally to Rs 2,438 crore in FY24, leaving it more than Rs 1,500 crore short of the revenue figure projected by Byju’s. Byju’s deepening financial crisis also scuttled IPO hopes as well. The slowdown became more visible in the following years. Aakash’s revenue declined 16.7% to Rs 2,032 crore in FY25. In FY26, the business managed only a marginal recovery, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 2,041 crore. Profitability also came under pressure. Aakash’s EBITDA dropped 65% to Rs 15.3 crore in FY26 from Rs 43.3 crore in FY25. The numbers show how sharply the growth story has changed. Aakash went from Rs 983 crore in revenue in FY21 to Rs 1,421 crore in FY22 and Rs 2,399 crore in FY23. But since then, it has struggled to move beyond the Rs 2,400-crore mark. Five years after the Byju’s acquisition, Aakash is now reporting less than half of the Rs 4,000 crore revenue that Byju’s had projected for FY24. The acquisition did help Aakash scale rapidly in its initial years. But the aggressive growth that followed those early gains has not materialised. Instead, the company has spent the last two financial years without making a decisive break from the Rs 2,000-crore revenue mark, while profitability has weakened further. Following Manipal’s acquisition of a controlling stake, the group now holds around 73% of Aakash Educational Services. Meanwhile, Byju’s stake has fallen to 13.74%, while Bisy Philip holds 5.16% in the company. During the fiscal year ended March 2026, Aakash founder JC Chaudhry completely exited the company. Chaudhry exit might leave the Manipal installed management with a blank slate to run the firm, but it remains to be seen if it can deliver, even though an impact in FY27 continues to look unlikely.
document fetched 2026-09-04 02:54