BYJU’S India CEO Arjun Mohan Steps Down Within 7 Months Of Taking The Role

Within a year of joining the edtech firm, BYJU’S India CEO Arjun Mohan is leaving the organisation. Following Mohan’s departure, BYJU’S founder Byju Raveendran will take care of day-to-day operations at India business.

On Monday (April 15), BYJU’S also announced a major reorganisation to “streamline its operations and position the company.” The edtech giant is consolidating its businesses into three focused divisions — the learning app, online classes & tuition centres, and test-prep.

This new structure, as per the company, will enable each vertical to be nimbler, cost-efficient, and better equipped to capitalise on market opportunities while leveraging the power of the BYJU’S brand and ecosystem, the company said in a statement.

Furthermore, each of these units will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses sustainably to ensure profitability. “The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost optimisation exercise led by outgoing BYJU’S India CEO Arjun Mohan,” the statement added. Mohan will now transition to an external advisory role.

Mohan joined BYJU’S in July 2023 as the CEO of its international business. In September, he was appointed as the head of the India business.

“This reorganisation marks the start of BYJU’S 3.0 – a leaner and more agile organisation ready to quickly adapt to evolving market dynamics, especially in the realm of hyper-personalized education,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and Group CEO.

“By focusing on our core strengths with three specialised business units, we will unlock new growth opportunities while continuing to focus on profitability,” Raveendran added.

The company also said that this new phase will also see Byju Raveendran taking a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations of the company. Over the past four years, he had focused primarily on strategic aspects such as raising capital and driving global expansion. However, recognising the need for strong leadership during this challenging hour, he will now be deeply involved in the company’s day-to-day functioning.

Founded in 2011 by Raveendran, along with his wife Divya Gokulnath, BYJU’S quickly rose to fame on the back of pandemic-era growth and raked in millions of dollars in VC funding.

However, as the FOMO-era of 2021 faded into the background, the early onset of funding winter in 2022 brought challenges. Investors, cautious amidst rising interest rates and market volatility, tightened their purse strings.

With schools reopening and macroeconomic pressures emerging, the downward spiral for the edtech unicorn intensified. Scarce capital during the funding winter led to acquisitions from past years contributing to the company’s losses without generating positive returns.

After a long delay in reporting its financials for the year 2021-22 (FY22), BYJU’S reported net loss surpassed INR 8,000 Cr. The edtech giant’s net loss surged 81% to INR 8,245.2 Cr in FY22 from INR 4,564.3 Cr in FY21.

Its operating revenue rose over 120% year-on-year to INR 5,014.6 Cr during the year under review, mostly on the back of improvement in the financial performance of Aakash.

The edtech major also delayed the disbursement of employee salaries in March for the second consecutive month due to a cash crunch. The company then said that the salaries would be cleared by April 8.

Later, BYJU’S told its employees that it had commenced the disbursement of their salaries for the month of March and it would be completed by April 18.