Case Study: Sequoia India's Early Bet on Byju's, A Syndicate Structuring Lens

Sequoia Capital India, now Peak XV Partners, backed Byju's when it was a profitable test-prep business in Bengaluru. Over the next seven years the company raised money from Sofina, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent, General Atlantic, Prosus and many others, reached a reported valuation of about $22 billion, and then unravelled through delayed audits, board resignations, a deeply discounted rights issue, lender litigation and insolvency proceedings. This case study reads the whole story from the investor side of the table. It looks at how each round was led and syndicated, what rights early investors held, why a fragmented syndicate struggled to enforce those rights when governance broke down, and how the down round and markdowns played out. It closes with a practical playbook for angel syndicate leads and family offices: how to structure a syndicate vehicle in India, which term sheet clauses matter most, and a capstone exercise structuring a round for a fast-growing company.