byjus

Alakh Pandey, a teacher from Prayagraj, transformed his YouTube channel into the edtech giant PhysicsWallah, making quality education accessible and affordable for millions. His journey from free online lessons to a billion-dollar valuation highlights a unique path to success in the competitive Indian education market.

Byju's Alpha Inc, a unit of Byju's, filed for bankruptcy in the US due to its $1.2 billion debt. The company lacks funds to continue fighting with its parent company. Parent company Byju’s, an online-education pioneer, continues to run its business in India and beyond even as the fight with creditors threatens its prospects.

Byju’s which has come under the scanner for severe corporate governance lapses is planning to set up a board advisory committee (BAC) which will be tasked with advising the CEO on matters pertaining to the company’s governance structure and composition of the board, sources said. “The BAC will serve as a working group consisting of independent directors with credible backgrounds and relevant experience from diverse corporate fields,” the startup’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran told shareholders at the firm’s EGM (extraordinary general meeting) held earlier this week.

Lenders to one of India’s hottest tech startups, Byju’s, created bogus default claims tied to a $1.2 billion loan as part of a scheme to gain control of the education-technology provider, the firm’s lawyer told a judge. The distressed-debt lenders are “playing hardball” to create leverage in negotiations to restructure the loan and causing problems for Byju’s executives, Sheron Korpus, a lawyer for the Bengaluru-base company, said at a hearing in state-court in Delaware Friday.

Trouble continues to mount for Byju’s. A month after the firm’s investor Prosus confirmed the resignation of its representative Russell Dreisenstock from the board of the startup, the Netherlands-based technology investor on Tuesday said that the executive leadership at Byju’s regularly “disregarded” Dreisenstock’s advice and recommendations relating to strategic, operational, legal and corporate governance matters, compelling him to resign.

Education technology unicorn Byju’s reported an increase of 174% in revenues on a standalone basis to Rs 1,341 crore in the financial year ending March 31, 2019. The company also turned in a profit of a little over Rs 20 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 28.7 crore in the previous fiscal.

Even as a group of Byju’s major investors are seeking removal of the troubled startup’s founder and group CEO Byju Raveendran from leadership position and reconstitution of the company’s board which now has been pretty much reduced to a family-run entity, Raveendran has given a clear indication that he is not going to step down from the top post.

Byju’s, India’s most valued private company, has raised $250 million in debt funding from US-based investment firm Davidson Kempner. This funding is part of a larger $1 billion round that the education technology company is trying to raise, sources told TOI.

Edtech major Byju’s has reportedly sued its lender Redwood, an American investment management company and its related entities in the New York Supreme Court for accelerating the repayment of a $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB). According to a report in Economic Times, this marks a new twist in the long-drawn saga playing out between Byju’s and its lenders. This comes after Byju’s missed its quarterly interest payment of about $40 million for the TLB that was due on June 5. Byju's offshore lenders were scheduled to receive their interest payments on May 25, as per the contract, with grace period until June 5.

Byju's, the once highly valued Indian startup, is facing more challenges as three senior executives have left the company as part of a restructuring. This comes after Deloitte and three board members resigned in June, citing concerns within the company. Byju's is currently reassessing its agreements with lenders and investors as it tries to secure fresh financing and regain investor confidence.

National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) NEET, and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Advanced) are considered challenging and demand extreme hard work from students taking the test. Though the exams were back-breaking this year, Aakash BYJU’S caps off one of its best-ever performances in both NEET-UG and JEE Advanced 2022.

Netherlands-based investment firm Prosus said in its half yearly financial statement that it has recorded the fair value of its 9.7% stake in Byju’s at $578 million. That would mean Prosus values the education platform at about $6 billion.

Byju’s managed to avoid insolvency by securing time to repay $19 million owed to India's cricket board. A court halted insolvency proceedings after a partial payment. However, Byju’s still faces several bankruptcy cases and legal troubles, with its valuation dropping significantly. Investor confidence is dwindling, leading to delayed staff salaries. Venture investments in India’s young firms have dwindled, depriving the country of capital needed to diversify and grow the world’s fifth-largest economy.

The Delaware Supreme Court has confirmed that Byju’s is in default on a $1.2 billion loan, allowing US lenders to take control of its unit, Byju’s Alpha. The court validated the lenders' move to appoint Timothy Pohl as sole director, emphasizing that Byju’s must be accountable for its defaults.

Byju’s, the popular ed-tech company in India, is to face a government inspection into its account books following the resignation of an auditor and three board members. The ministry of corporate affairs has ordered an internal assessment of the company’s situation, and a report is expected in six weeks.

Byju’s on Wednesday announced the launch of Byju’s Wiz, a suite of three cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) transformer models—Badri, MathGPT, and TeacherGPT. The new suite, the firm said, will provide students with personalised learning experiences.

Byju’s, previously India’s most valuable startup valued at $22 billion less than two years ago, has faced multiple challenges. These include financial issues, legal conflicts, reduced valuation, and calls from investors for leadership changes. As a result, there has been an increase in employee turnover due to layoffs and salary delays.

Byju's Alpha is accused of hiding $500 million from creditors. The dispute is the latest setback for the high-flying startup founded by Byju Raveendran. Byju's had already been working to appease creditors trying to restructure a $1.2 billion term loan when government investigators searched company offices in April.

A US court dismissed a plea by Byju’s foreign lenders to obstruct a settlement between the startup and BCCI, upheld by an Indian court. The Delaware Bankruptcy Court avoided interfering with another country's legal system, affirming the Indian court’s resolution of a Rs 159 crore dispute. Founder Byju Raveendran's brother cleared BCCI’s dues using personal funds.

Byju’s set the edtech space in India alight with its meteoric rise and super-high valuations. But that growth was clearly too fast, too soon. Today, the celebrated unicorn is losing face – as well as employees, board members and even auditors. What’s going on at Byju’s?

Byju Raveendran, the founder and CEO of Byju's, has assured shareholders that the edtech startup is compliant with regulations and denies allegations of forex violations. Raveendran cited a due diligence process conducted by a law firm that found no violations. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged forex violations amounting to Rs 9,000 crore by Byju's, but the company denies receiving any notice from the ED. Byju's is currently trying to sell assets to repay a term loan and has faced scrutiny and valuation markdowns in recent months.

Lenders to Indian ed-tech company Byju's have cited a default on a $1.2bn loan when taking over control of a unit of the company, according to a Delaware judge. The lenders, including Redwood Investments and Silver Point Capital, replaced a relative of Byju's founder on the board with their own nominee. The lenders have been pushing for repayment of the loan as the company faces mounting distress, with some investors writing down their stakes. Byju's had been working to sell assets and resolve the loan issue.

The funding rush in the online education sector does not seem anywhere near over. Edtech major Byju’s is set to raise around $600 million, mostly from US investors, at a valuation in the range of $14-15 billion, two people aware of the matter said.

Edtech company Byju’s has introduced free live classes on its platform. Students will now be able to learn real-time from Byju’s teachers by reserving their preferred topic and slot from the schedule on Byju’s - The Learning App.

Byju's has introduced an affordability test for potential customers. The company said in a statement that a threshold family income of Rs. 25,000 per month is necessary to purchase a course with the Edtech company. The firm has been criticised for aggressively selling its content to families who may not be able to afford it. Families with an income of less than Rs. 5000 per month automatically qualify for the Byju's Education for All EFA programme where people get access to its content for free. Mrinal Mohit, Chief Executive Officer of Byju's India, said in the statement that Byju's has set a target of expanding its Education for All initiative to at least 1 crore children by 2025.

Byju’s has acquired Austria-headquartered GeoGebra, which was founded in 2013 and has an interactive and collaborative mathematics learning tool. Sources said it’s a $100-million deal.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday issued showcause notices to troubled edtech startup Byju’s and its founder and group CEO Byju Raveendran over alleged violation of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) amounting to over Rs 9,362 crore. The ED, which had initiated investigation against the startup earlier this year, has accused Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (Byju’s parent company) and its promoter of making significant foreign remittances and investments abroad that were allegedly in violation of the provisions of Fema, resulting in loss of revenue to the government.