Indian edtech decacorn Byju's announced that it would open 300 physical centres in 2023 as the company wants to strengthen its feet in the hybrid coaching business. 

The development comes at a time when online businesses of the edtech platforms are witnessing a decline in demand as the effects of the pandemic have lessened.

Last year, the company launched 300 physical centres. It planned to invest $210 for the growth of its new venture. 

The company has a $22 billion valuation and is a member of India's decacorn club. Apart from Byju's, Flipkart, Swiggy, PhonePe and Nykaa are the other members.

“We're building for how students are learning now — the new way of learning, which is hybrid. So we launched 300 hybrid learning centres last year and we plan to do 300 more this year,” Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of Byju's, told Moneycontrol. 

“We are adapting quickly to the new normal, and if anything, I think the last six to eight months have been very nice for us in going deeper and going broader as well in terms of what we have to offer students,” she added.

The Byju Raveendran-led start-up went through massive hardships last year. In October 2022, it announced plans to rationalise its 50,000-strong employee bandwidth by 5 per cent. Later, it faced multiple other controversies as well. In December, the child rights body, The National Commission For Protection of Child ( NCPCR), summoned Raveendran over the allegations of malpractice committed by the company’s sales team. The body cited a media report that carried the experiences of the deceived customers. 

The same body also accused the company of threatening the kids and their parents to ruin their futures if they do not buy its courses. Some of its ex and current employees also complained about the company's toxic work culture.