Byju Raveendran – The News Desk

Byju’s founder Raveendran to take over firm’s daily operations after CEO Mohan’s resignation

15Apr

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Business

Byju’s founder Raveendran to take over firm’s daily operations after CEO Mohan’s resignation

NEW DELHI: Byju Raveendran, the founder of Think and Learn, the edtech company that owns the Byju's brand, will assume control of the company's daily operations following the departure of CEO Arjun Mohan, as announced by the company on Monday. The company has revealed a significant restructuring of its business, consolidating its operations into three focused divisions: The learning app, online classes and tuition centres, and test-prep."The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost optimisation exercise led by outgoing BYJU'S India CEO Arjun Mohan.This new phase will also see Byju Raveendran taking a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations of the company," the company said.Mohan will transition into an external advisory role, offering his ext...

Byju Raveendran’s big fall: From leading India’s most valuable startup to net worth plummeting to zero!

4Apr

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Business

Byju Raveendran’s big fall: From leading India’s most valuable startup to net worth plummeting to zero!

Byju Raveendran, the founder of Byju's, a leading edtech company in India, has faced a significant setback as his net worth has dropped to zero, according to the latest Forbes Billionaire Index 2024. The report states that his net worth has come down from Rs 17,545 crore ($2.1 billion) to zero! Once a top player in the business world, Raveendran's downfall mirrors the challenges encountered by his once-thriving startup.Established in 2011, Byju's quickly emerged as India's most valuable startup, peaking at a valuation of $22 billion in 2022, according to an ET report.The company's educational app transformed the learning landscape, serving students across various levels. However, recent financial disclosures and controversies have marred its image and diminished its value.The financial tu...

Fresh setback for Byju’s; US court rules in favour of lenders, placing them in control of a unit

10Nov

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Business

Fresh setback for Byju’s; US court rules in favour of lenders, placing them in control of a unit

NEW DELHI: In a fresh setback for Byju’s, a US court has ruled in favour of the firm’s lenders stating, their move to remove Riju Raveendran (brother of Byju Raveendran) as the sole director and officer of Byju’s Alphaand replacing him with their representative Timothy R. Pohl is valid. The ruling issued on November 2 effectively places the lenders at the helm of Byju’s Alpha, the US-based subsidiary of Byju’s which was set up to receive the term loan B.“I conclude that Pohl is, indeed, Byju’s Alpha’s sole director and officer. GLAS (Glas Trust Company, the trustee representing lenders) and Pohl effectively seated Pohl as Byju’s Alpha’s director and officer. There is no dispute as to the mechanics of the removal of Byju’s Alpha’s former director and officer and Pohl’s appointment,” judge ...

Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai in talks to invest in Byju’s-owned Aakash

2Aug

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Business

Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai in talks to invest in Byju’s-owned Aakash

Manipal Group Chairman Ranjan Pai is in early discussions to invest in Byju’s-owned Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL). According to sources in the know, Byju’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran, who owns a 30 per cent stake in Aakash, is expected to partially offload his holding to Pai for $80-90 million (about Rs 650-740 crore). Raveendran may use the money to repay a large part of the Rs 800 crore loan that Byju’s raised from US-based investment firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management in May, after facing a ‘technical default’, the sources said. Pai, one of Byju’s early investors, had first invested in the edtech start-up in 2011 through his venture capital fund Aarin Capital. Aarin eventually exited t...

Star founder Raveendran broke down in tears as crises engulfed Byju’s

26Jul

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Business

Star founder Raveendran broke down in tears as crises engulfed Byju’s

By Anto Antony In late April, Indian officials in plainclothes raided the Bengaluru offices of Byju’s, seizing laptops and publicly linking the world’s most valuable education-technology startup with possible foreign exchange violations. An ocean away, Byju Raveendran, the firm’s eponymous founder and chief executive, paced his condo in Dubai, downing cups of black coffee and fielding calls from top investors. With a planned $1 billion equity fundraise from Middle Eastern investors still in limbo, Raveendran broke down in tears defending his company, according to people who attended the calls. Raveendran had been in crisis mode for months. Apart from the raid by India’s financial crime-fighting agency, his once high-flying tutoring startup failed to fil...

Mohandas Pai, former SBI chair, to join Byju’s advisory council

13Jul

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Business

Mohandas Pai, former SBI chair, to join Byju’s advisory council

BENGALURU: Early Byju's investor Mohandas Pai and former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar will join a council aimed at addressing corporate governance issues at the edtech startup roiled by government scrutiny and a spate of high-profile resignations.The council will mentor Byju's board and its CEO Byju Raveendran on crucial matters, the company said in a statement on Thursday.The move comes weeks after board members representing investors Peak XV, Prosus and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative stepped down. Byju's auditor Deloitte also resigned saying the startup had not submitted its financial papers for fiscal 2022."As part of the advisory council, I look forward to advising the leadership in evolving the systems of governance and financial reporting," Pai, who first invested in t...