Three senior executives have resigned from edtech startup Byju’s, in what comes as a setback at a time when it is trying to hunker down and rebuild amidst challenges.
Prathyusha Agarwal, the Chief Business Officer of Byju’s, has resigned, four people aware of the matter told Moneycontrol. Himanshu Bajaj, Business Head of Byju’s Tuition Centers, and Mukut Deepak, Business Head for Class 4 to 10, have also quit, the people said, requesting anonymity.
Agarwal had joined Byju’s in February 2022 from Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where she was the Chief Consumer and Data Officer in her final stint. Agarwal was with Zee in senior positions for over five years.
Deepak, meanwhile, was with the company for almost two years, while Bajaj had joined Byju’s in November 2021 to head the Byju’s Tuition Centers (BTC) vertical from management consulting company Kearney. While Deepak was Tata Play’s Chief Business Officer, Bajaj was at AT Kearney for almost 16 years.
Last week, Byju’s Senior Vice President for international business Cherian Thomas, who was considered one of the key members of the company’s American business and spearheaded Osmo, also quit. Byju’s had acquired educational gaming platform Osmo for $120 million in 2019. According to the company, Osmo had a revenue of $100 million in FY21 (2020-21).
Resignations due to restructuring
“They have ramped down the whole K-3 (Kindergarten to class 3) business which Prathyusha (Agarwal) was looking after from the business side. So, her role was getting redundant,” one of the persons cited above said.
A spokesperson for Byju’s confirmed the development and said that their resignations were due to a restructuring undertaken by the company recently.
“As Byju’s continues to chart its path to profitability and sustainable growth, we have undertaken a restructuring of businesses and verticals including the consolidation of four verticals into two key verticals – K-10 and Exam Prep,” the spokesperson said.
“At present, two very seasoned and senior leaders lead both verticals- Ramesh Karra leads the K-10 vertical while Jitesh Shah leads the exam prep business. And as a part of this reorganisation of businesses, Mukut Deepak, Prathyusha Agarwal, and Himanshu Bajaj will be moving on,” the spokeperson added.
The departure of senior executives, who headed key verticals like Byju’s Tuition Centers, which was touted as its next growth engine, and its core K-12 business, comes at a time when Byju’s is trying to tide over operational issues.
Exodus
In June, Byju’s saw its three key investor board members stepping down due to differences with the founder Byju Raveendran over operational issues. Deloitte, which had been Byju’s auditor since 2015, also resigned in June, citing delays in the company’s FY22 (2021-22) financial results.
Byju’s is also in discussions with creditors – both Term Loan B lenders and Davidson Kempner – and is also awaiting an injection of funds.
The company has also laid off more than 2,000 employees this year and gave up its largest office space in Bengaluru. It is also grappling with student and parent dissatisfaction.
However, the company is trying to turn the tide by undertaking some key steps, including setting up of a board advisory council and roping in industry veterans like TV Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar as advisors. Byju’s also recently appointed Richard Lobo as its human resources head. He is expected to take charge of the company in September.
Byju’s, currently India’s most-valued startup and the world’s most-valued edtech, had reached new heights in March last year, when the company raised a massive $800 million fund infusion, which propelled its valuation to over $22 billion.
Founded by former teacher Raveendran over a decade back, the company has raised close to $6 billion in funding.