Byju’s India CEO Mohan steps down

Will exit to an external advisory role

EMBATTLEDTHINKANDLEARNPVT Ltd, the parent firm of Byju’s, on Mondayannouncedamajorreorganisation with Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Byju Raveendran taking “a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations” of the company. Simultaneously, Byju’s India CEO Arjun Mohan will now exit to an externaladvisoryrole,lendinghis “deep edtech expertise to the company and its founders during this transformation phase”.

Byju’s is in urgent need of funds, and faces huge financial losses, a barrage of legal suits, and massive investor backlash. Its valuation has fallen below $1 billion (Rs 8,300 crore), and certain investors are pushing to oust Raveendran and members of his family from the company.

Over the past four years, Raveendran had focused primarily on strategic aspects such as raising capital and driving global expansion, it said. “However, recognising the need for strong leadership during this challenginghour,hewillnowbedeeplyinvolved in the company’s day-today functioning, leveraging his expertise to steer Byju’s towards its next phase of growth and innovation,” the company said on Monday.

Byju’s also decided to streamlineitsoperationsandpositionthe company“forlong-termsuccess”. Aspartofthisstrategicshift,byju’s isconsolidatingitsbusinessesinto three focused divisions - The Learning App, Online Classes & Tuition Centres and Test-prep. “This new structure will enable each vertical to be nimbler, costefficient, and better equipped to capitalize on market opportunitieswhileleveragingthepowerof the BYJU’S brand and ecosystem. Each of these units will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses sustainably to ensure profitability,” the company said.

The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost optimisation exercise led by outgoing Byju’s India CEO.

“This reorganisation marks thestartofbyju’s3.0,aleanerand more agile organisation ready to quickly adapt to evolving market dynamics, especially in the realm of hyper-personalised education,” said Byju Raveendran, Founder and Group CEO.

At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in February, a group of investors passed resolutions for the removal of Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and brother Riju Raveendran from the company’s leadership. The validity of the resolutions is now before the Karnataka High Court. Despite laying off thousands of employees and making massive expenditure cuts over the past year, Byju’s valuation has been in free fall, and the company has defaulted on loans taken from US lenders.