 "Arjun Mohan")
Just over six months after taking over the role, Byju’s India CEO Arjun Mohan has quit from his position in the firm, which is now restructuring its business into three divisions with founder Byju Raveendran handling the firm’s day-to-day operations.
The cash-strapped firm said on Monday that Byju’s was consolidating its businesses into three focused divisions. They are online learning app business, online classes and tuition centres, and test preparation. Each division will have a separate head.
“The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost optimisation exercise led by outgoing Byju’s India CEO Arjun Mohan. Mohan will now transition to an external advisory role, lending his deep edtech expertise to the company and its founders during this transformation phase,” the company said.
The company hasn’t given any reason for Mohan’s move.
Giving details of the proposed consolidation, Raveendran said, “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-personalised education.”
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“By focusing on our core strengths with three specialised business units, we will unlock new growth opportunities while continuing to focus on profitability,” he said.
Byju’s had made Arjun Mohan the chief executive officer (CEO) of its India business in September last year, replacing Mrinal Mohit. Mohan was working in rival edtech firm UpGrad earlier.
“Arjun (Mohan) has done an outstanding job steering Byju’s through a challenging period,” said Raveendran on Monday. “We are grateful for his leadership and look forward to his continued contributions as a strategic advisor.”
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.
The edtech major recently laid off about 500 employees, or over 3 per cent of its total 15,000-strong workforce, as part of a restructuring exercise. The latest round of layoffs was part of the restructuring exercise started by the Bengaluru-based edtech last year to let go of about 4,500 employees. It was undertaken by Arjun Mohan. About 3,000 people were let go between October and November last year.
Byju’s has given up all its regional sales offices across India, keeping only its headquarters at IBC Knowledge Park in Bengaluru. The offices that have been given up could be well over 20 across Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and more.
With that, the company has told all its employees, about 15,000 of them, to work from home indefinitely. The staff working at about 300 Byju’s tuition centres across the country would, however, continue going to office.
At its peak in 2022, Byju’s had about 50,000 employees, which included the edtech firm’s various subsidiaries. According to sources, the financial situation at Byju’s might improve once it gets the $200 million raised through the rights issue.
Byju’s is also grappling with another setback as it faces delays in paying salaries to employees. The delay stems from funds raised through a recent rights issue, which have been locked in a “separate account” due to the ongoing dispute with investors.
Byju’s and its investors are fighting at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) over the company’s rights issue of $200 million in a petition alleging mismanagement.
The four investors, Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India & Southeast Asia), had sought a stay on the rights issue at less than 99 per cent enterprise valuation compared to Byju’s peak valuation of $22 billion.
