In a move aimed at rebuilding its reputation, edtech firm Byju’s has roped in former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar and former Infosys chief financial officer TV Mohandas Pai as members of its advisory council. The council, officially called Think&Learn, will play a key role in advising the company’s board and CEO Byju Raveendran, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Byju’s has been firefighting mode for more than a year now. The edtech has been in all sorts of trouble after skipping payments on a $1.2-billion loan and delaying financial results for FY23. In June, the company’s auditors Deloitte Haskins & Sells and three of its board members resigned, undermining Byju’s credentials as a global leader in the online education space.
Kumar and Pai are expected to counsel Byju’s top team and its board on important matters. Corporate watchers said Pai’s advice would be useful as the company negotiates fresh terms for a $1.2-billion loan and looks to raise more debt. Moreover, it would need to publish the financial statements for the last financial year. Kumar, they pointed out, can help the team deal with regulatory issues and other matters. Byju’s is believed to be under the scrutiny of the government which is understood to have called for an inspection of the edtech firm’s accounts to check for any fraud or violations. The ministry of corporate affairs is learnt to have asked for an assessment in six weeks.
Byju’s was valued at $22 billion in November 2021 when it closed a large Series F funding round of more than $700 million from investors such as Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GenGlobal Bright, Edelweiss, Verition Fund, XN Exponent Holdings, MarketX Ventures and others. Since then, however, BlackRock has slashed the valuation to $8.4 bn at the end of March 2023, according to the AMC’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Separately, Byju’s is understood to have appointed former upGrad CEO Arjun Mohan as CEO of the international business.
In June, representatives of three of the startup’s investors – Peak XV Partners, Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative– stepped down from the board leaving it with just three members — Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Raveendran.