Embattled edtech major Byju's has roped in upGrad's former chief Arjun Mohan to oversee its international business, as it continues to fight a US court battle and also faces domestic hurdles, two people aware of the development said.
Mohan, who formerly served as chief business officer at Byju's for over 11 years, has been brought on board in a consulting role to oversee the overseas operations for Byju’s. Mrinal Mohit will continue to head the company's India operations as the chief executive officer, the people cited above said.
Byju’s did not respond to queries on the development. Mohan said: "I'm working with Byju's founder Byju Raveendran on multiple things but I have not joined the company on this role."
Mohan had joined upskilling unicorn upGrad in April 2020 and worked there for over two years. He quit upGrad in December last year to explore outside opportunities.
At Byju’s, Mohan will be responsible for managing the international business. Presently, the Byju Raveendran-led company has overseas entities in Singapore, the US and the Middle East. International business accounted for over Rs 1,000 crore to the company's revenue in fiscal year 2020-21.
Mohan’s appointment was first reported by Moneycontrol.
The appointment comes months after the Bengaluru-based edtech giant’s international lenders moved a Delaware court in May for permission to take control of Byju’s Alpha, its US entity. In a petition filed against Redwood Capital Management Llc and others in the New York Supreme Court, Byju’s described the lenders led by Redwood as “predatory” and moved to disqualify Redwood as a lender. Byju’s also rejected its lenders’ demand to immediately repay a $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB) it raised in November 2021. The company said it was declining to make any more interest payments until the legal dispute was resolved, marking a default.
At home, the beleaguered edtech unicorn, which was once valued at over $22 billion, is fighting multiple battles including auditor and board member resignations, governance lapses related to regulatory compliance, and valuation markdowns. Its bondholders have been renegotiating the terms of their loans with Byju’s, adding pressure on the company.
Meanwhile, VCCircle recently reported that US-based investment manager Davidson Kempner Capital Management froze the accounts of Byju’s subsidiary Aakash Educational Services Ltd after reviewing the part of the $250 million loan it was likely to have disbursed to Byju’s.
Last month, Byju’s suffered a major blow when the nominees of Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV Partners), Prosus and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative on its board as well as its auditor Deloitte stepped down as the firm is yet to submit its financial statements for fiscal year 2021-22.
Founded in 2011, Byju’s last reported financial numbers show a loss of Rs 4,589 crore in FY21, widened from Rs 232 crore in FY20.
Amid these struggles, the Byju Raveendran-led startup is also facing an inspection ordered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs into its account books, as per a Bloomberg report.
Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd, which operates Byju's, was once regarded as world’s most valued edtech firm at over $22 billion. It attracted billions of dollars from investors across the globe during the pandemic that boosted demand for online education services.
However, since last year, Byju’s has faced valuation markdowns by investors such as BlackRock, Prosus (previously Naspers Ventures) and others valuing Byju’s as low as $5 billion.
Besides the above investors, Byju's backers include marquee private equity and venture capital investors such as CPP Investments, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Qatar Investment Authority, Bond Capital, Silver Lake, Sofina, Verlinvest, Tencent, Sands Capital Management, Alkeon Capital Management, Edelweiss, and 360 One.
