BYJU’S Investors Form Working Group To Advise Embattled Startup

Six of BYJU’S biggest investors have reportedly formed an informal working group to engage with the edtech giant, track its progress and provide suggestions. 

The group was formed a few weeks ago and consists of General Atlantic, Prosus, Peak XV, Sofina, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Verlinvest, Moneycontrol reported.

A mail sent to BYJU’S seeking details about the working group didn’t elicit any response till the time of publishing this story. Meanwhile, General Atlantic and Prosus declined to offer any comments on the matter. Peak XV, Sofina, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Verlinvest did not respond to requests for comments.

The working group is said to be different from the advisory panel BYJU’S recently formed to stabilise the company as it fights on multiple fronts. The advisory panel consists of the likes of former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar and ace investor TV Mohandas Pai.

As per the company, the council will guide the board and CEO Byju Raveendran in matters related to the company to bolster corporate governance guardrails.

The move to form the working group comes three months after the representatives of Peak XV, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Prosus stepped down from BYJU’S board citing differences with the edtech’s cofounder and CEO Raveendran.

In June, GV Ravi Shankar, Vivian Wu and Russel Dreisenstock all resigned from their positions abruptly.

Nearly a month later, Prosus issued a statement stating that BYJU’S executive leadership disregarded Dreisenstock’s advice and recommendations on matters related to strategy, operations, legal affairs and corporate governance. Peak XV also communicated in a letter to its limited partners that the lack of transparency within the edtech’s management prompted Ravishankar’s departure from the company’s board.

BYJU’S statutory auditor Deloitte also quit over similar disagreements and was replaced by BDO.

The latest development comes at a crucial time for the edtech giant, as it looks to secure up to $300 Mn from Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai for its offline unit Aakash. He will invest $170 Mn in the first tranche, followed by subsequent investments.

Further, BYJU’S is also actively looking to sell Great Learning and Epic, two of its US-based subsidiaries. It is aiming to raise up to $1 Bn from the sale of the two assets to pay off its $1.2 Bn term loan B. The lenders recently hired risk and financial advisory solutions provider Kroll to ‘safeguard’ the charged assets of Great Learning.

After missing yet another deadline for filing its financial numbers for FY22, the Bengaluru-based edtech giant recently said its board will meet in the second week of October for approval and adoption of its much-delayed financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2022.