In the middle of multiple top-level departures, BYJU’S-owned coaching centre chain Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) has reportedly constituted an executive council to appoint a new chief executive officer (CEO).

BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran, Group CFO Ajay Goel, Aakash’s chief business officer Anup Kumar Agarwal, and Aakash’s chief human resources officer Sachin Saxena will be part of the council, The Economic Times reported citing an internal note sent by Raveendran to employees. 

This follows the departure of incumbent CEO Abhishek Maheshwari and the impending exit of CFO Vipan Joshi. Sources close to the company told Inc42 that while Maheshwari has exited the company after the completion of his notice period, Joshi is also on his way out of the company. 

As per the ET report, Maheshwari’s exit was formally announced by BYJU’S to the employees on Saturday (September 2).

A BYJU’S spokesperson declined to comment on the story. 

The executive committee will spearhead the company during the transition period and conduct ‘scheduled’ meetings so that the coaching centre chain continues to operate ‘smoothly’.

“The executive committee has been assembled to provide guidance, support, and leadership during this transition period. We are committed to maintaining the excellence and growth that AESL has consistently delivered in terms of both current business operations and future prospects,” Raveendran said in the internal note.

C-Suite Execs Leave In Droves

The development comes in the middle of a series of top-level exits at multiple subsidiaries of the edtech decacorn. Just days ago, it was reported that the chief executive of BYJU’S subsidiary WhiteHat Jr Ananya Tripathi resigned from her position. 

This was preceded by the exit of BYJU’S chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal, business head of BYJU’S Tuition Centers Himanshu Bajaj and business head for Class 4 to 10 Mukut Deepak in quick succession. 

In August itself, BYJU’S senior vice president for international business, Cherian Thomas, also announced his departure from the company. The company also fired more than 100 employees from the post-sale division last month for performance related issues.

Overall, BYJU’S has laid off more than 5,000 employees since the beginning of last year as it grapples with a funding crunch. As part of its cost-cutting measures, the company has shelved expansion plans and cut down on expenses to extend its runway. 

The edtech major has also been bogged down by a slew of legal and regulatory issues. While it is locked in multiple legal cases with its term B lenders, IPO-bound Aakash is also in the middle of a tussle between its shareholders. Amid ongoing negotiations with New York-based investment fund Davidson Kempner over an INR 2,000 crore credit line, there appears to be a major rejig in the offing at Aakash’s board. 

In a bid to pay Kempner, Aakash also appears to have finalised a $80 Mn cash infusion from Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai to tide over the debt crisis. 

With much at stake, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Aakash as troubles continue to pile up at its parent firm even as the aoching chain prepares for its much-touted public listing. 

The post BYJU’S-Owned Aakash Sets Up Executive Council To Appoint New CEO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Financial services major IIFL Finance has claimed that it has never lent any money to edtech giant BYJU’s, despite the latter stating so in its financials for the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21). IIFL issued a clarification calling the mention an error on BYJU’S part.

“It has come to our notice that Think & Learn Private Limited (“BYJU’S”) has erroneously stated IIFL Finance Limited as Lender in their Audited Standalone and Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2021,” said IIFL Finance in a filing with the BSE.

According to IIFL Finance, the edtech giant has mentioned it as a lender to the tune of INR 440.77 Cr in its audited financial statements for FY21. For its part, BYJU’S has admitted that the inclusion of IIFL was ‘inadvertent’ and has sent a letter dated August 23, 2023, to the lending company.

“We further confirm that IIFL Finance Limited has not lent any money to BYJU’S and this was an error in their audited financial statements,” the company added.

The edtech giant is struggling with two different sets of lenders – the Term Loan B (TLB) lenders and Davidson Kempner – for settlements on a cumulative lending amount of $1.45 Bn.

In some relief to BYJU’S, the company’s TLB lenders have agreed to delay their ongoing legal battle in US courts until October 6. This postponement is likely to allow both parties time to negotiate an out-of-court settlement.

BYJU’S had filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court to stop the TLB lenders from accelerating the closure of its $1.2 Bn loan. The lenders contended that BYJU’S had violated multiple covenants, including submitting financial statements for FY22, which have been delayed for several quarters. The lenders consequently demanded expedited loan repayment.

Over the past few months, both parties have been locked in negotiations regarding new repayment terms and a restructuring of the loan, including upfront payments of $200 Mn and 12-13% interest, with a restructured tenure of 3-5 years.

Besides this, the edtech giant is locked in battle with Davidson Kempner, another of its lenders. BYJU’s and DK are in negotiations to settle a dispute over the breach of a loan covenant by Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), the edtech giant’s offline test prep arm.

BYJU’S has offered to repay this loan along with the full interest, but the lender is seeking interest on the entire amount for one to two years. BYJU’S cofounder and CEO Byju Raveendran has instead proposed interest pertaining to one quarter.

Talks between the two companies are centred on the exact payout and a formal proposal is expected this week by the two parties.

On the sidelines, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai is said to have finalised an $80 Mn investment in Aakash, which could be utilised to repay Davidson Kempner, with Pai receiving shares in Aakash in exchange.

The post Never Lent Any Money To BYJU’S, Claims IIFL Finance appeared first on Inc42 Media.

BYJU’S employees have lost access to many data management tools, including Salesforce after the edtech giant reportedly didn’t clear monthly payments of these platforms.

The edtech major uses tools such as Leadsquared, Orderhive and Salesforce, alongside data visualisation software such as Tableau and Tooljet. On August 31, all employees lost access to Salesforce, Tableau and Tooljet, Moneycontrol reported citing sources.

BYJU’S has not cleared dues to Salesforce, Tableau and Tooljet for about two months, raking up total vendor payments between INR 45 Cr and INR 50 Cr. Leadsquared has scaled back its services, while Orderhive will suspend access to its services starting from September 1 due to non-payment of dues since December last year, the people added.

However, Salesforce access was restored earlier today (September 1).

A spokesperson for BYJU’S said that the edtech firm has been transitioning out third-party software tools. 

“BYJU’S has a high calibre tech team that has been building a robust and cost-efficient tech backbone and progressively transitioning out third-party software tools and platforms. The purpose of building a single platform for all content management, classroom and CRM solutions is to ensure a secure and seamless transition of information for all stakeholders within and outside the company’s ecosystem,” the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson added that much of the software was transitioned out several quarters ago.

The move to discontinue third-party solutions and transition to internal systems highlight the startup’s efforts to cut costs. BYJU’S also vacated its biggest office space in Bengaluru in July, while also laying off hundreds of employees. The edtech company has also gone conservative on marketing efforts as it looks to achieve profitability next financial year.

Earlier this week, four senior executives departed from the edtech, including BYJU’S CBO Prathyusha Agarwal and WhiteHat Jr CEO Ananya Tripathi.

BYJU’S has been fighting wars on multiple fronts for some time now. In June, the company faced a significant setback when three crucial members of its board decided to step down. Further, its longtime auditor, Deloitte, also resigned in June.

The edtech giant is currently in negotiations with creditors, including term loan B lenders and Davidson Kempner, for restructuring. It has been getting closer to a settlement with both lenders. 

Amid the controversies, the edtech giant also constituted a board advisory council, appointing industry veterans such as TV Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar as advisors. Recently, BYJU’S also onboarded Richard Lobo to lead its human resources department.

The post BYJU’S Skips INR 45-50 Cr Payment To Salesforce, Other Data Management Tool Providers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech titan BYJU’S and its term loan B lenders have agreed to delay their ongoing legal battle in U.S. courts until October 6. This postponement will allow both parties time to negotiate an out-of-court settlement.

The conflict, dating back to June 5, saw BYJU’S file a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court to stop the lenders from accelerating a $1.2 Bn loan. The lenders contended that BYJU’S had violated multiple covenants, including its failure to submit financial statements for FY22, consequently a demand for expedited loan repayment.

BYJU’S, in its lawsuit, also sought to disqualify Redwood Capital, a term loan B lender, citing its distressed investor status to claim that it was ineligible under the loan terms. The edtech giant also announced its decision to withhold interest coupons on the loan until the dispute was resolved but subsequently initiated negotiations with the lenders for an out-of-court settlement.

According to a document cited in a Mint report, the parties are working on reaching a forbearance agreement and discussions are still ongoing. “The parties agree it would further the efficiency interests of this case to allow additional time to facilitate a forbearance agreement,” the New York Supreme Court said in its August 24 order.

The court also allowed the lenders time till October 6 to either respond to the original lawsuit or move to dismiss it. While sources close to BYJU’S expect the dispute to be resolved before Diwali, no one has committed to any deadlines.

The New Terms

To be sure, BYJU’S has been negotiating with the steering committee (SteerCo) of the term loan B, a group of lenders that own 85% of the $1.2 Bn credit line. The parties had earlier said they would be signing new terms on August 3 but failed to do so.

Both parties are negotiating new terms, including upfront payments of $200 Mn and 12-13% interest, with a restructured tenure of 3-5 years, a person cited by Mint said.

BYJU’S raised a $1.2 Bn loan in November 2021. Lenders began pushing the firm for more disclosures as the company failed to disclose its audited FY22 financials on time, which was a ‘technical’ breach of covenants, according to company insiders.

Matters came to a head on June 5, when BYJU’S refused to pay interest on the loan and alleged that lenders had deployed ‘predatory tactics’. The situation became worse as the edtech’s board of directors and its auditor resigned expressing their inability to work with the company management.

Since then, it has formed an advisory council roping in Infosys cofounder Mohandas Pai and former SBI chairperson Rajnish Kumar.

The edtech giant is also working on repaying a loan taken from Davidson Kempner and onboarding Manipal founder Ranjan Pai as an investor in its offline business unit Aakash Educational Services. BYJU’S has also committed to filing its FY22 financial statements by September 30 and FY23 financials by the end of December.

The post BYJU’S, TLB Lenders Looking For Out-Of-Court Settlement, Defer Legal Proceedings appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ananya Tripathi, the CEO of BYJU’S-owned WhiteHat Jr, has reportedly submitted her resignation, marking yet another departure from a senior position at the edtech giant.

Tripathi, who has been on maternity leave since May, has decided to quit, Moneycontrol reported. However, the edtech company has not yet officially acknowledged her resignation and is actively attempting to convince her to reconsider.

BYJU’S was not immediately available to respond to Inc42’s questions on the development.

Tripathi assumed her role at WhiteHat Jr in April last year. Before joining WhiteHat Jr, she held the position of managing director at KKR Capstone. Tripathi also worked as the chief strategy officer at Myntra for nearly four years.

BYJU’S acquired WhiteHat Jr in 2020 for $300 Mn. Its founder Karan Bajaj left WhiteHat Jr in August 2021. The coding platform has been embroiled in a number of controversies ranging from misleading advertising to layoffs.

The development comes at a time when BYJU’S is fighting on multiple fronts. The edtech giant has been embroiled in controversies pertaining to corporate governance, layoffs, a potential debt crisis, delay in filing financial statements, among others.

BYJU’S is yet to file its financial numbers for FY22 and FY23. In FY21, its net loss surged nearly 20X to INR 4,588 Cr. While much of this was due to changes in revenue recognition by the decacorn, WhiteHat Jr was also a major contributor to the loss.

With a total loss of INR 1,118.25 Cr in FY21, WhiteHat Jr accounted for 26.73% of BYJU’S net loss.

Earlier, Byju Raveendran, cofounder and CEO of BYJU’S, referred to WhiteHat Jr as the ‘under-performer’ among the group of companies in a discussion with Inc42. He further noted that WhiteHat Jr’s anticipated growth trajectory may involve significant cash expenditure, contrasting with the progress of other acquired companies that were moving towards achieving positive unit economics.

On Tuesday, Inc42 reported that three top executives from BYJU’S, including chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal, stepped down. Himanshu Bajaj, business head of BYJU’S Tuition Centers, and Mukut Deepak, business head for Class 4 to 10, have also quit the edtech unicorn.

The post WhiteHat Jr CEO Ananya Tripathi Quits In Another High-Level Departure At BYJU’S appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Three top executives from BYJU’S, including chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal, have stepped down, marking the latest in a series of senior management departures from the edtech company.

Himanshu Bajaj, business head of BYJU’S Tuition Centers and Mukut Deepak, business head for Class 4 to 10, have also quit the edtech unicorn.

Agarwal joined the edtech giant in February 2022 from Zee Entertainment, where she was the chief consumer and data officer. Deepak was with the edtech for almost two years, having joined from Tata Play, while Bajaj joined BYJU’S in November 2021 to head BYJU’S Tuition Centers (BTC) from management consulting company Kearney.

BYJU’S spokesperson confirmed the development and attributed these resignations to organisational restructuring.

“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.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the edtech giant has scaled down the kindergarten to class 3 business, which was being headed by Agarwal from the business side.

“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 spokesperson added.

The senior level exits come days after BYJU’S SVP for international business, Cherian Thomas, also quit. Thomas was considered one of the key members of the edtech unicorn’s American business and spearheaded Osmo, a US-based gaming-focused edtech startup acquired for $120 Mn in 2019.

Besides senior level exists, BYJU’S is also facing multiple operational issues, including delays in filing financials, resignations of board members, legal tussles with lenders and delays in raising fresh funding. However, the edtech giant has recently set up a board advisory council and roped in industry veterans like TV Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar as advisors. It also appointed Richard Lobo as its human resources head earlier this month.

Since last year, BYJU’S and its group companies have let go of over 4,000 employees. The company also gave up its largest office space in Bengaluru to save operational costs.

Running behind the timelines, the edtech unicorn filed its financial statements for FY21 after an 18-month delay in September 2022, reporting INR 4,588 Cr in losses. Recently, BYJU’S assured investors that the company would file FY22 financials by September and statements for FY23 by the end of this year.

The post BYJU’S CBO, Two Other Senior Execs Resign Amid Restructuring appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Vivek Sinha, the chief operating officer (COO) of the edtech unicorn Unacademy, has resigned from his post.

He announced his departure via an X post on Saturday evening (August 26). “After three incredible years at Unacademy, I have decided to take the next step in my career. Grateful for the opportunities, friendships, and memories I have gained. Thank you for believing in me and constantly pushing me to operate at (the) peak of my abilities Gaurav Munjal,” said Sinha.

In response, Gaurav Munjal, Unacademy CEO, said, “Thank you @viveksinhaisb for being a part of Unacademy. You’re one of the most Relentless Leaders I have worked with. Best wishes for the future :)”

Sinha did not clarify what his next move would be.

An NIT Jamshedpur and ISB alumnus, Vivek Sinha joined Unacademy in August 2020 as the COO. In his role at the edtech unicorn, he managed the full-stack P&L of digital test prep, hybrid centres, K12 and jobs & skills verticals. According to his LinkedIn profile, Sinha was directly in charge of about 4,000 employees across functions such as growth, business, marketing, BD, sales, content, ops, CX, academics, CAPEX and real estate.

Previously, Sinha had worked at OYO and Mobikwik. At OYO, Sinha managed an SBU (separate business unit) for the startup’s joint venture with Softbank managing luxury hotels in the country. Sinha had also founded a construction-tech startup, Buildzar.com, in 2015. At the startup, the ex-Unacademy COO raised $4 Mn in Series A funding before exiting the startup in 2016.

The exit comes days after Unacademy hired Aakash Educational Institute’s Anurag Tiwari to lead its offline vertical, in what now appears to be a bid to redistribute some of the responsibilities the outgoing COO looked after. The edtech unicorn also elevated Graphy CEO Sumit Jain to the role of a partner.

Unacademy, which has undertaken multiple cost-cutting measures over the past few months, including firing thousands of staffers, also posted a cash flow positive month in June 2023, as announced by CEO Munjal on social media. The edtech unicorn is yet to file its financials for FY23, however, it posted a net loss of INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, up 85% year-on-year (YoY).

The post Unacademy COO Vivek Sinha Resigns After Three-Year Stint appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Peak XV Partners-backed edtech startup Cuemath has reportedly fired another 100 employees to bring down its costs. 

“…unfortunately, our revenue and cost trajectories are still divergent from expectations, and our problems are compounded by the bad macro situation around capital availability, particularly for edtech,” Cuemath founder and CEO Manan Khurma told the employees in an email on Friday (August 25), as per a Moneycontrol report.

“This means that we will have to move to a leaner team structure, in which some roles will get redundant. That exercise is being carried out today,” the email reportedly read.

Inc42’s email to Cuemath did not immediately elicit a response till the time of publishing this article.

The development comes three months after the Bengaluru-based edtech startup fired around 100 employees in May this year, within a year of it raising a funding of $57 Mn.

After the May layoffs, Khurma had reportedly told the Cuemath employees saying there wouldn’t be any need for more layoffs. 

“And at that point, I had full conviction in saying that. But clearly, I had underestimated the extent of the turnaround required to get the company into a healthy situation,” Khurma said in his latest mail. 

“For what it’s worth, I and our leadership team worked very hard in the last few weeks to avoid this outcome. But we’ve come to the conclusion that we still have a long way to go and this action is inevitable,” he was quoted as saying.

In May, Khurma also returned as the full-time CEO of the company.

Founded in 2013 by Manan and Jagjit Khurma, Cuemath offers mathematics courses to K-12 students and is present in over 80 countries. The startup is backed by marquee investors like Google, Alpha Wave Incubation, and Lightrock India.

Cuemath’s standalone net loss widened 65.7% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 216.6 Cr in FY22, while its operating revenue jumped 64% to INR 148 Cr. Employee benefit expenses accounted for almost 34% of its total expenses of INR 369.6 Cr in the year.

Cuemath is yet to file its FY23 financial statements.

The edtech sector is one of the worst hit due to the ongoing funding winter. Since 2022, at least 22 edtech startups in the country, including five of the seven edtech unicorns, have fired 9,871 employees, as per Inc42’s layoff tracker.

Many Indian edtech startups have also been involved in controversies. While BYJU’S is in the line of fire for a range of issues, including corporate governance and delay in filing financial statements, last week Inc42 exclusively reported about various allegations levelled by students against Skill-Lync.

The post Edtech Startup Cuemath Fires Another 100 Employees To Cut Costs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The move comes after the edtech unicorn announced the launch of 50 additional PW Vidyapeeth centres in May. Having launched its first offline centre in June 2022 in Rajasthan’s Kota, PW Vidyapeeth currently operates 67 centres across 38 cities in India, with a student base of nearly 1.5 Lakh students.

The announcement also comes months after the edtech unicorn announced an investment of $10 Mn in PW Vidyapeeth. PhysicsWallah plans to invest $5 Mn in the first phase to set up infrastructure for its school-integrated course. Afterwards, the remaining $5 Mn will be deployed towards creating content, development of pedagogy and academic upgradation of schools.

As for the PWNSAT, the test will be available in both online and offline formats and is open to students in grades 6 to 12, as well as those who have dropped out but are preparing for JEE or NEET exams.

Ankit Gupta, CEO of Vidyapeeth Offline, PhysicsWallah, said, “At PW, we firmly believe in the hybrid approach as the way forward. By expanding our tech-enabled offline Vidyapeeth centres across cities, our goal is to ensure access to quality education for students in their own towns, eliminating the need for them to relocate to education hubs in distant cities.”

Gupta added that last year, 1.1 Lakh students benefitted from the PWNSAT scholarships, worth more than INR 120 Cr. “Continuing the same, this year, we are providing scholarships worth INR 200 Cr,” added Gupta.

Edtech startups across the country, especially those who operate in the test prep segment, have been moving to a hybrid model, opening offline centres while also operating via their apps and websites. While BYJU’S acquired Aakash to foray into the offline coaching centres space, PW and Unacademy chose the organic method by building in-house divisions for offline coaching centres.

Founded in 2020 by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah competes with the likes of BYJU’S and Unacademy in India’s competitive exam prep space. The edtech startup turned unicorn in June 2022 after raising $100 Mn from Westbridge and GSV Ventures at a post-money valuation of $1.1 Bn.

Since being flush with capital, PhysicsWallah has been making acquisitions and investing heavily in business verticals beyond IIT/JEE and NEET prep. The edtech unicorn has made seven acquisitions since August 2022, with its latest acquisition coming in June 2023 in the form of Xylem Learning. PW acquired a 50% stake in Xylem to venture into South India.

The edtech unicorn also announced investing INR 100 Cr in its UPSC vertical and INR 120 Cr to shore up PW Skills, its skill development vertical.

PhysicsWallah is India’s only profitable edtech unicorn, having posted a net profit of INR 97.8 Cr in FY22, 14 times higher than INR 6.9 Cr in FY21.

The post PhysicsWallah Boosts Offline Presence, Announces 26 New PW Vidyapeeth Centres appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A security researcher has claimed that a technical glitch at BYJU’S exposed sensitive data of students, including their loan and payment details. However, the embattled edtech giant told Inc42 it was a temporary glitch and no data was compromised.

The glitch came to notice after security researcher Bob Diachenko posted on X (formerly Twitter) about it on August 23. “Byju’s, an education technology giant and India’s most valuable startup, exposed data of its customers via misconfigured service instance. While there is no response from the company, personal data of students, incl. loan and payment details along with other info, is at risk,” he said.

TechCrunch reported that names, addresses, phone numbers and email IDs of the students were also exposed.

However, BYJU’S said that no personal data was exposed. “There was a temporary exposure of a small fraction of our systems for a very short duration. Please note, no data or information was exposed or compromised during this event,” BYJU’S CTO Anil Goel said. 

“Our technical team has promptly resolved this issue as soon as it came to our notice. We would like to reiterate that all our systems have been built around safeguarding the privacy and security of our data,” Goel added.

Back in 2021, a similar case was reported with BYJU’S data that involved a security lapse and “this time it is much worse”, Diachenko’s post on X said. 

Diachenko told TechCrunch there were several IP addresses with the misconfigured server that enabled anyone to access the queue to read the students’ records without a password.

The company used the misconfigured Apache Kafka server to send and receive data in real time, he said. 

The misconfiguration was apparently fixed after the researcher’s post on X.

Earlier in 2020, personal data of 2.8 Lakh students and teachers enrolled on BYJU’S-owned WhiteHat Jr was reportedly exposed due to vulnerabilities in the company’s server.

Diachenko reportedly claimed 1 Mn-2 Mn records were accessible due to the latest issue at the startup.

BYJU’S Many Troubles

The incident adds to the woes of BYJU’S, which has been plagued with multiple controversies and issues pertaining to corporate governance, funding crunch, layoffs, delay in filing financial statements, and $1.2 Bn Term Loan B.

The beleaguered edtech decacorn also witnessed a major overhaul of its board and core team recently.

In June this year, three of its board members, including GV Ravishankar, MD of early-backer Peak XV Partners, resigned, along with representatives of Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. 

BYJU’S former auditor Deloitte also quit from its role citing the delay in the filing the financial statements for FY22.

The company’s SVP for international business, Cherian Thomas, left the company this month.

Meanwhile, the startup recently roped in former Infosys executive VP and HR head Richard Lobo as an exclusive advisor in an attempt to transform its HR function. BYJU’S has also hired former upGrad CEO Arjun Mohan as the CEO of its international business. 

The edtech company also appointed former SBI Chairperson Rajnish Kumar and ace investor TV Mohandas Pai as members of its advisory council in July.

The post Security Researcher Claims Tech Glitch Exposed BYJU’S Students’ Data; Co Denies Leaks appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based startup GradRight has raised INR 50 Cr in Series A funding from IvyCap Ventures.

As part of the deal, Tej Kapoor, IvyCap Ventures’ managing partner, will join the GradRight’s board. The startup plans to deploy the incoming funding for expanding its business, it said in a prepared statement.

Founded in 2019 by Aman Singh and Sasidhar Sista, GradRight brings together prospective students, universities and lenders on a single platform.

The startup has developed an AI-based ecosystem of universities and banks, enabling students to make informed decisions on programmes, universities to identify suitable students and banks to finance them.

GradRight claims to have processed loan requests of more than $1.75 Bn (INR 14,300 Cr) and assisted more than 55,000 students via its platform.

“As a tech-first company with a platform-based approach to solving these problems, we are committed to ensuring that every student has the resources they need to obtain the education they deserve. We are delighted that IvyCap Ventures shares our vision and has chosen to support us in our mission and global ambition. Their belief in our unique business model further strengthens our commitment,” GradRight’s founders said in a joint statement.

GradRight also claims to have partnerships with 15 lenders and 50+ international academic institutions in the US, Canada and Europe, offering students a choice of 13,100 programmes across 1,000 universities. 

The study abroad space has become a fertile ground for India’s startup ecosystem to experiment and bring tech-enabled products and services. 

GradRight joins the likes of Leverage Edu (which recently secured $40 Mn), Leap (which secured $75 Mn last year) and UniScholars, along with the thousands of individual agents and small businesses in the space.

The post Edtech Startup GradRight Secures INR 50 Cr To Finance High-Potential Students appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In another high-level exit from beleaguered edtech giant BYJU’S, its SVP for international business, Cherian Thomas, has left the company.

Thomas has joined Impending Inc as its chief executive officer(CEO), the company said in a statement.

As the CEO of Impending, Thomas will focus on building and scaling the product portfolio while strengthening and growing the company’s global talent pool. 

The statement said that Thomas played an integral part in setting up the US operations at BYJU’S. Later, he also became the CEO of Osmo, which was acquired by BYJU’S for $120 Mn. 

Prior to this, he cofounded and sold a VC-backed startup, Cucumbertown, to Japanese conglomerate Cookpad in 2016. He was also one of the earliest employees at gaming major Zynga.

“Impending espouses everything I’d do if I were to start again,” said Thomas. “There’s no sword hanging with deadlines or metrics to impress a board. It’s all about executing, failing, evolving, re-releasing and scaling without being questioned,” he added.

US-based Impending works on Apple-focused studios in the world that has been
building for the Mac community since the early 2000s, and later the iPhone.

The exit comes at a time when edtech giant BYJU’S has let go of 100 employees as part of a performance review after having put the said employees on a performance improvement plan (PIP).

Recently, edtech startup Unacademy appointed BYJU’S-owned Aakash Educational Institute’s Anurag Tiwari as the National Academic Director for its physical classes division, who served as the National Academic Director at Aakash.

The edtech giant has been struggling with multiple issues including cash flow issues, legal trouble with lenders, multiple rounds of layoffs, resignation of board members, valuation markdowns and delayed financial reporting.

BYJU’S net loss soared 20X year-on-year (YoY) to INR 4,588 Cr in FY21, while it is yet to file its financial statements for FY22 and FY23.

The post BYJU’S Top Exec Cherian Thomas Quits, Joins Impending Inc As CEO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A recent incident at Unacademy, where the edtech giant sacked a teacher for voicing a political opinion during an online class, has again raised the question of employees’ rights to openly discuss political issues at the workplace.

It’s also brought up some debate about whether Indian startups are ready for politics at the workplace even as they enter the mainstream ahead of the 2024 General Elections.

Earlier this week, Unacademy sacked judicial services tutor Karan Sangwan, days after his video went viral on social media. During his class, Sangwan is seen urging students to vote for educated candidates, which brought up talk about political bias.

In response to the video, Unacademy cofounder Roman Saini said, “We are an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting quality education. To do this we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge.”

Sangwan was dismissed for seemingly being in breach of the Code of Conduct, the cofounder said. He added that the classroom is not “a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them.”

The decision, however, sparked a controversy as many questioned whether Unacademy could take such a step for a teacher who simply urged students to vote for educated candidates. Many X (formerly Twitter) users called for boycotting Unacademy, with ‘UninstallUnacademy’ trending on the site.

Even Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi condemned Unacademy’s stance on the issue.

Startups In Political Crossfire

Indian startups have been seen historically fostering an open culture but it seems they are not certain yet how to deal with heated controversies about political and social issues. We have seen similar cases in the case of Zomato and other companies in the recent past.

Back in 2021, foodtech Zomato landed in a controversy after one of its employees told a customer, during a grievance redressal conversation, that everyone should know Hindi as it is the national language. The exchange triggered a controversy and many condemned the company for imposing the language on customers.

As an immediate reaction, Zomato issued a public apology and informed the customer that it “terminated the agent for their negligence towards our diverse culture”.

However, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal later informed that the employee in question was being reinstated and added that call centre agents are “not experts on languages and regional sentiments”. While many lauded Goyal for supporting the employee in crisis, many raised questions about the startup’s guidelines on sensitive issues.

In today’s digital age, social media has become a major communication channel for startups and their customers. Hence, it has become more important for them to have a clear strategy to deal with controversies but defending employee rights as well.

Was Unacademy Right To Sack Karan Sangwan?

The freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens under the constitution of India under article 19 (1) (A). The exercise of this right is subservient to “reasonable restrictions” being imposed under article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.

While rule 5 of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 deals with the involvement of a government employee in politics and elections, there is no definitive rule for private sector employees in this regard. However, private entities can put clauses in employee agreements to restrain employees from making sensitive political comments.

According to a legal expert, not willing to be named, the termination of Unacademy teacher is illegal as he did not mention any political party, politician or any individual in his comment which was mostly generic. However, as of yet, there’s no sign of any legal action being taken against the company.

Besides India, this issue remains unsolved for global startups and corporates as well. For example, Google updated its employee guidelines in 2021 to caution against unnecessary political debate and improper disclosure of company information which sparked controversies as well.

Other companies such as Basecamp and Coinbase also tried to ban political discussions at work which resulted in a loss of number of employees.

Given that Indian startups have become part of the mainstream consciousness and public debates, startups will definitely need to be more agile when it comes to navigating such challenges in the future.

Technology has become a battleground for political stakes as we have seen in the past couple of election cycles, and with the 2024 General Elections on the horizon, startups are increasingly likely to see themselves being dragged into political debates.

The post Unacademy Controversy: Drawing The Line On Political Debates At Startup Workplaces? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech giant BYJU’S has let go of 100 employees as part of a performance review after having put the said employees on a performance improvement plan (PIP). 

A spokesperson of the embattled edtech company said the decision to let go of employees was neither a cost-cutting measure nor a layoff exercise.

“There are no fresh layoffs in the post sale division… However, as part of a periodical performance review, 100 individuals who did not meet expectations after a performance improvement plan, were let go with proper procedures,” the spokesperson said.

The impacted employees were from the post-sale division at BYJU’S.

“In fact, during the past two months, as part of our commitment to augmenting this division, BYJU’S has recruited 200 new professionals,” the BYJU’S spokesperson added.

However, as per media reports, over 400 employees from the mentoring and product expert divisions were impacted by the company’s move.

The development was first reported by Moneycontrol.

The development comes as the edtech giant has been fighting a war on multiple fronts, including cash flow issues, legal trouble with lenders, multiple rounds of layoffs, the resignation of board members, valuation markdowns and delayed financial reporting, among others.

Over the past few months, the edtech giant has fired at least 2,600 employees, including the latest round of retrenchments. This figure is verified by Inc42, while the number may be well above 5,000 as per various media reports.

However, the edtech decacorn recently received some relief in terms of restructuring its massive debt. The company remains in talks with the lenders of both its $1.2 Bn Term Loan B (TLB) and the $250 Mn credit line provided by Davidson Kempner.

Many of BYJU’S problems seem to stem from the long delay in filing its financial statements. It is yet to file its financial statements for FY22. In FY21, its net loss soared to INR 4,588 Cr. The company published its FY21 results also after a long delay in September last year.

The post Beleaguered BYJU’S Shows Door To Another 100 Employees Citing Performance Issues appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech major Unacademy on Tuesday (August 15) announced the elevation of Graphy chief executive officer (CEO) Sumit Jain to the role of a partner. 

“… @sumjain, who has been with us for more than 3.5 years is now our new Partner. Partner at Unacademy is like a cofounder who joined at a later stage. Sumit has been like a cofounder to us since day one and has scaled Graphy to what it is today. Congratulations Sumit,” said Unacademy cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal on X (formerly Twitter). 

Jain, who leads the Unacademy-owned Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, has been instrumental in building Graphy as a profitable venture within the larger Unacademy umbrella. 

“Gaurav, thanks a lot for the trust you have shown in me. The journey with Unacademy Group has been a roller coaster ride, full of challenges and learning. And I would not demand anything less. Very very excited to be a part of the Unacademy Group. Let’s crack it!” Jain said, responding to Munjal. 

An alumnus of IIT Roorkee, Jain is a serial entrepreneur who, besides Graphy, has cofounded big-ticket ventures such as proptech platform CommonFloor (later acquired by Quikr) and social media app OpenTalk. He has also worked with SaaS giant Oracle at the outset of his career. 

Jain is also an angel investor and counts startups such as Airmeet, Newton School, and AdmitKard, among others in his portfolio. 

The elevation will likely enable Unacademy to leverage Jain’s experience to further chart its course towards profitability and bolster growth ambitions. Even as Unacademy continues to rake up heavy annual losses, Graphy is probably the only profitable subsidiary of the edtech major. 

Curiously, the elevation comes a day after the edtech startup appointed Aakash Educational Institute’s Anurag Tiwari as the National Academic Director for offline business.

The new elevation comes at a time when Unacademy has streamlined its operations, cut costs and shelved cash-guzzling ventures. The result has been that the edtech major reported its first-ever cash flow positive month in June this year. 

In an internal communication earlier this year, Munjal even told employees that Unacademy had significantly slashed its burn rate and was well set to ‘almost generate’ a profit at the group level in April. 

Meanwhile, the new focus on profitability came at a cost. As capital became scarce starting last year, the edtech company undertook multiple restructuring exercises and has so far fired more than 2,000 employees across the board. However, the stark reversal of fortunes is in contrast with BYJU’S, which continues to be mired in challenges.

With Jain in the partner role, Unacademy appears to be eyeing a bigger pie of the homegrown edtech space, which is projected to reach a market size of $29 Bn by 2030.

The post Unacademy Elevates Graphy CEO Sumit Jain To Partner Role appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech giant BYJU’S held a call with more than 110 investor representatives on Monday (August 14) to update them on the ongoing negotiations with the lenders of its $1.2 Bn Term Loan B, audited results and other issues plaguing the edtech decacorn at the moment.

The edtech giant is currently grappling with issues across the board, mostly stemming from the delays on its part to file its audited financial statements for FY22. These issues have led to confrontations with lenders, investors and stakeholders alike for BYJU’S.

CEO Byju Raveendran and CFO Ajay Goel addressed the investors, calling the current quarter a ‘defining’ one as the edtech tries to set itself straight. The newly-appointed advisory council, including Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar, expressed confidence in the business, Moneycontrol said in a report.

Raveendran has assured the investors that the TLB conversation should wrap up by the end of August, while talks with Davidson Kempner are also going well. Further, keeping in line with previous commitments, Raveendran and Goel said BYJU’S will file its FY22 audited financial results by September-end.

Investor representatives from General Atlantic, Peak XV Partners (erstwhile Sequoia Capital India), Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, were also present during the call.

The edtech giant has been actively engaging its investors as it battles on multiple fronts, with lenders being the biggest of its headaches.

While discussions with the TLB steering committee (SteerCo) are said to be smooth sailing, it has come with its fair share of trouble. The negotiations for reworking the loan agreement are ongoing even as the edtech has sued a section of the TLB lenders in New York, after being sued in Delaware.

However, the parties missed an August 3 deadline, committed to by the SteerCo in July.

On the other hand, Davidson Kempner also cited certain defaults and after alleged reshuffles of the board of BYJU’S crown jewel Aakash, the lender is also negotiating with the edtech for repayment of the amount utilised so far. The repayment, according to reports, should amount to INR 800 Cr, out of the INR 2,000 Cr sanctioned by Davidson Kempner.

Just yesterday, BYJU’S announced the appointment of Richard Lobo, the former HR head at Infosys as an exclusive advisor. 

Lobo will serve as an advisor to help transform its HR function when the edtech has been reported to be firing employees by the hundreds. While it has only confirmed one layoff, impacting 2,500 employees, media reports cite north of 5,000 employees being impacted across various verticals.

The company is also in question for delayed appraisals and provident fund payments.

The edtech giant is now exploring fundraising from one of its earliest backers, Ranjan Pai, for Aakash. Pai is expected to buy out a part of Raveendran’s stake in Aakash, who owns nearly a 30% stake in the offline test prep platform.

The post BYJU’S Holds Call With Investors Over Term Loan B Negotiations, Audited Financials appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech giant BYJU’S has appointed former Infosys executive VP and HR head Richard Lobo as an exclusive advisor to help transform its HR function.

Lobo has joined the beleaguered edtech decacorn after a 23-year career at Infosys, from where he resigned earlier this month.

The strategic move underscores BYJU’S commitment to fortify its employee-centric culture, the startup said in a statement on Monday (August 14). 

It is pertinent to note that BYJU’S, which is fighting multiple battles pertaining to corporate governance, delay in publishing financial statements, funding crunch, layoffs, among others, has also faced allegations from employees about its work environment.

In one of the most recent incidents, a video went viral last month in which a woman accused the edtech major of defrauding employees and customers. 

In its latest statement, BYJU’S said Lobo will actively guide BYJU’S management on organisational changes and transformation to create an outstanding workplace for its employees. 

“His (Lobo’s) extensive experience and leadership in HR will be instrumental in further enriching our work culture and ensuring that the welfare of our team members remains at the core of every decision we take. BYJU’S has been built by its people; it is an ecosystem where talent can thrive and grow,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, and cofounder Divya Gokulnath.

“Having Richard on board reassures us that BYJU’S will evolve into a best-in-class global workplace, where merit and growth flourish hand in hand,” they added.

Lobo started his career with the Godrej group and joined Infosys in 2000. He is credited for bringing technology and analytics to the HR function as Infosys became a global leader in technology and consulting. 

“I look forward to working with the leadership to scale global organisational design, innovate people practices, and help strengthen the foundation of the enterprise to support its next phase of growth as a global market leader,” Lobo said on his appointment.

It must be noted that after the high-profile exits of multiple board members in June this year over the ongoing problem around its $1.2 Bn Term B loan (TLB) re-payment to its creditors, BYJU’S appointed ace investor TV Mohandas Pai and former SBI Chairperson Rajnish Kumar as members of its advisory council. 

Prior to that, BYJU’S also hired former upGrad CEO Arjun Mohan as the CEO of its international business. 

Adding to its existing problems, recent reports suggest that BYJU’S might have to pay an additional $50 Mn-$60 Mn annually in interest on its TLB as part of new terms with lenders.

Amid the financial challenges, BYJU’S laid off over 1,000 employees in a new round of layoff exercise in June. As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, the company has fired over 4,000 employees so far since 2022.

The post BYJU’S Ropes In Former Infosys HR Head Richard Lobo As Advisor appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech startup Unacademy has appointed BYJU’S-owned Aakash Educational Institute’s Anurag Tiwari as the National Academic Director for its physical classes division.

Tiwari also served as the National Academic Director at Aakash and was responsible for innovative pedagogies, curriculum development, and educators learning management with a student-centric approach during his stint. He has over 18 years of experience.

“As we continue to empower and shape the future of education, Anurag will play a pivotal role in driving our mission forward. Anurag will be responsible for overseeing pedagogy, academic operations, strategies, and outcomes on a national level for Unacademy Centres for IIT JEE, NEET UG, and Foundation,” Unacademcy cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a statement.

With growth in online vertical tapering down, edtech startups, including BYJU’S, Unacademy and PhysicsWallah, have turned their focus to offline classes since last year.

Amid the slowdown, Unacademy launched UnacademyX in May this year to enter the UPSC test preparation market. 

In April, Munjal also said that Unacademy, which reported a 85% year-on-year rise in its net loss to INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, ‘significantly reduced’ its burn rate and was on its way to ‘almost generate’ a profit at the group level during the month. 

Later, Munjal claimed that Unacademy reported its maiden cash flow positive month in June 2023, in line with the company’s internal projections that target profitable numbers for its digital test preparation business between April and December 2023.

However, this came at a cost. The Unacademy Group, like many other Indian edtech startups, has fired 540 employees since last year in order to cut costs and turn profitable.

The latest development also comes at a time when BYJU’S is involved in a legal battle with the founder family of Aakash over a share swap agreement.

The post Unacademy Picks BYJU’S-Owned Aakash’s Anurag Tiwari To Lead Offline Vertical appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered edtech startup Shaktimaan.ai has bagged $2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Y Combinator. 

The funding round also saw participation from Fundersclub, GoodWater Capital, Jar founders Misbah Ashraf and Nishchay AG, and several other angel investors. 

In a statement, Shaktimaan.ai said it will use a large chunk of the fresh funding to build a large language model trained for diverse use cases to enhance the capabilities and adaptability of its platform.

Founded in 2023 by Vimal Singh Rathore and Aseem Gupta, the startup claims to provide a discipline-inducing learning ecosystem which provides personalised learning and mentorship to UPSC aspirants. The startup aims to reach the milestone of serving the first 1 Lakh UPSC aspirants by the end of this year. 

Commenting on the goals of the startup, cofounder Rathore said, “Shaktimaan is our answer to the challenges of affordability and accessibility of excellent education in India. The prospect of making a real difference keeps our entire team driven and inspired.”

Currently, the startup offers real-time doubt resolution and personalised feedback with detailed evaluations based on the answers given by the students. It aims to personalise learning modules to make them more engaging and accessible for aspirants. 

The funding round comes at a time when generative AI has taken the world by storm following the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. From Swiggy to ixigo, a number of Indian startups have also jumped on the generative AI bandwagon.

Speaking about the potential of AI, Rathore said, “When I encountered GenAI last year, it struck me that this could be a game-changer in education, particularly in a nation like ours where quality teaching is often beyond reach.”

The fundraise also comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is going through a meltdown of sorts. While the troubles of giant BYJU’S are well-documented by now, other startups in the sector are also reeling under the impact of the ongoing funding winter and mounting losses.

While multiple edtech startups like Udayy and Lido have shut shops since last year, others have resorted to mass layoffs to cut costs. As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian edtech startups, including BYJU’S, Unacademy and Vedantu, have laid off over  9,871 employees since last year.

The post Shaktimaan.ai Bags Funding To Help UPSC Aspirants Prepare With AI-Powered Platform appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech startup Saarthi’s cofounder Chiraag Kapil and investors have filed a lawsuit against Classplus in the Delhi High Court (HC) for alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust.

As per the lawsuit, edtech-SaaS platform Classplus acquired Saarthi in 2022 but the investors associated with the latter are yet to receive their stipulated agreements or the corresponding equity in Classplus they were entitled to post the execution of the deal. 

The petition also claims that Kapil was onboarded as a key executive personnel during the acquisition process in November 2021 but was ‘unexpectedly’ terminated months later in August 2022. 

Apart from the lawsuit, Kapil and other Saarthi investors have also filed a police complaint against Classplus, its cofounders Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, and chief financial officer (CFO) Sankalp Aggarwal in the matter.

The aggrieved investors reportedly include Kris Gopalakrishnan-backed Axilor Ventures, Faad Network, Innov8 founder Ritesh Malik, Vinod Sood, Rahul Dalmia, among others. However, Gopalakrishnan told ET that he was not aware of any complaint made by Axilor Ventures.

The lawsuit has also made multiple other allegations including extortion, mental harassment, defamation, theft of immovable property, misappropriation of funds, among others, against Classplus. 

Meanwhile, both the edtech startups have submitted their responses before the Delhi HC, which has now scheduled the matter for hearing in September. 

“Saarthi was a pre-revenue company when we conducted the deal. Both founders of the company got cash payouts from Classplus on day one of their journey with us. Chirag left in Aug 2022 while Saransh, the other co-founder, stayed for more than a year, till May 2023. There is no merit in the allegations made against us due to the same reasons and facts,” Classplus said in a statement sent to Inc42. 

Acquisition Gone Wrong

At the heart of the matter is Classplus’ acquisition of Saarthi. In October 2021, Classplus first floated a proposal for the acquisition of Saarthi. As per Saarthi, the presented proposal offered seemingly ‘advantageous terms’ and involved a complex transfer of business operations and employees from Saarthi to Classplus.

By the time the acquisition negotiations commenced in November 2021, the two entities, as per the lawsuit, were already operating ‘almost as a unified entity’. As per Saarthi, its cofounder Kapil even assumed a key executive role within Classplus.

However, Saarthi claims that by December 2021, when the term sheet was finally presented, the stipulated clauses ‘diverged’ from the terms previously discussed. The lawsuit further alleges that the ‘imbalanced nature’ of the negotiations and the subsequent events left Saarthi and its investors in a disadvantaged position. 

Saarthi’s petition also claims that Classplus, by then, had access to Saarthi’s proprietary information, workforce, intellectual property, and database. 

“Classplus’s failure to pay us (Saarthi’s investors), despite numerous attempts to resolve the issue, is more than just negligence—it’s a glaring sign of bad faith. We investors were left abandoned and deceived, and we demand immediate action. This isn’t just business; it’s a matter of principle, and we won’t rest until it’s rectified,” Ayush Banka, cofounder of Leaf Studios and an investor in Saarthi, told The Morning Context, which first reported the development. 

Founded in 2018 by Rustagi and Agarwal, Classplus offers a full-stack enterprisetech edtech platform to enable educators and content creators to sell courses online, build their online presence and digitise their offline coaching centres.

Classplus was valued at more than $600 Mn last year and is backed by marquee names such as Tiger Global, Peak XV Partners’ incubation programme Surge, Blume Ventures, Alpha Wave, and GSV Ventures.

With this, another edtech startup has landed in a soup after raising huge amounts of capital in the funding boom of 2021. This adds to a string of controversies that have plagued the edtech startup ecosystem, which has seen shut downs, valuation markdowns, layoffs, regulatory scrutiny, plummeting user numbers and a funding drought. 

With the case now in Delhi HC, the stage is set for another David vs Goliath as the larger edtech industry continues to reel under a spate of bad news. 

The post Acquisition Gone Wrong: Saarthi Drags Classplus To Court For Alleged Breach Of Trust appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Chaudhry family, the founder of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), has reportedly told BYJU’S that it will terminate the merger and fallback agreement involving a share swap.

According to a report by The Morning Context, the Chaudhrys will not swap their remaining 18% stake in Aakash for equity in the edtech giant. At the same time, Blackstone, the US-based private equity (PE) firm, has also delayed moving ahead with the share swap. Blackstone still holds a 12% equity stake in Aakash.

However, sources close to BYJU’S told Inc42 that Aakash is legally bound to complete the share swap, as part of the agreement that saw the edtech decacorn acquire the test prep chain in April 2021.

A BYJU’S spokesperson declined to comment on the matter when approached by Inc42.

The move comes after BYJU’S reportedly sent a legal notice to the founders of the test prep chain due to their alleged resistance to complete the share swap.

The development also comes amid the ongoing boardroom tussle at the storied test prep chain, as its lender Davidson Kempner accused Aakash of breaching a loan covenant and asked for repayment of the money utilised from the $250 Mn credit line it extended.

As per media reports, Davidson Kempner has taken control of Aakash and restructured its board of directors. While Davidson Kempner refused to confirm this development, BYJU’S rejected these reports.

“This is completely incorrect. There is no allegation of financial misconduct, and DK has not taken over the company. We have noted certain fictional allegations and request you to refrain from writing the same,” a spokesperson for BYJU’S said on July 31.

Separately, two independent directors of Aakash tendered their resignations earlier in July, though it was widely reported that the two directors – Amit Khansaheb and Vishruta Kaul of the legal firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co – were appointed to ensure a smooth transition after the BYJU’S-Aakash merger.

The uncertainty surrounding Aakash will likely cause a headache or two at BYJU’S since the test prep vertical has been a silver lining for the edtech giant.

BYJU’S-Aakash: A Difficult Marriage

BYJU’S acquired Aakash in April 2021 for an amount close to $1 Bn. As part of the acquisition agreement, the Chaudhry family sold Aakash to BYJU’S parent company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (TLPL)  for a combination of cash and shares. 

The share swap is meant to complete this deal.

However, due to delays in the approval for the proposed merger by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), TLPL invoked an unconditional fallback agreement and issued a notice to Chaudhrys, requesting the execution of the swap deal.

BYJU’S is looking to end the share swap issue soon as it is looking at an $80 Mn cash injection from Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai. Pai will acquire a part of BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran’s stake in Aakash.

However, the Chaudhry family and Blackstone have reportedly cited a breach of terms, including a delay in furnishing the FY22 audited financials of BYJU’S parent firm for the refusal, making it yet another case of delayed financial reporting haunting the edtech giant.

The post Aakash Founders To Terminate Share Swap Agreement With BYJU’S appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech giant BYJU’S might have to pay an additional $50 Mn – $60 Mn annually in interest on its $1.2 Bn Term Loan B (TLB) as part of new terms with lenders.

BYJU’S has proposed 11.0-11.5% interest at least, ET said in a report. However, this is still subject to change as the terms have not been finalised yet as the two sides continue their discussions this week.

In July, the steering committee of the TLB, a group of lenders who own more than 85% of the term loan, said they have agreed to work with the edtech giant to finalise the new terms by August 3. However, no announcement has been made on an agreement so far.

BYJU’S has been struggling to freeze the new terms for the TLB. While it has been trying to secure fresh funds, troubles at the test prep major Aakash, lenders and statements from investors like Prosus on corporate governance issues at the edtech, have affected the process.

The term loan B, availed in November 2021, was raised at a Libor plus floating interest rate of 550 basis points (5.5%). BYJU’S and the lenders are discussing the additional interest rates on top of the 550 bps. While cofounder and CEO Byju Raveendran reportedly offered an increase of around 200 bps in March, creditors did not agree to it.

The edtech giant has been making headlines because of the term loan B due to the size of both the loan and the issues surrounding the company. Earlier this month, BYJU’S accused the lenders of its $1.2 Bn term loan B (TLB) of creating bogus default claims as part of a scheme to gain control of the edtech giant during court proceedings at Delaware.

BYJU’S lawyer, Sheron Korpus, added that the distressed-debt lenders are ‘playing hardball’ to create leverage in negotiations for restructuring the loan. Korpus added that lenders, including US investment firms Redwood Investments LLC and Silver Point Capital LP, are ‘making extortionate demands’ of BYJU’S.

On the other front, the edtech giant and New York-based Davidson Kempner have also begun negotiations to settle their dispute over the breach of a loan covenant by the edtech giant’s offline test prep arm, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL).

The post BYJU’S Might Have To Pay Additional $50 Mn – $60 Mn In Interest On TLB appeared first on Inc42 Media.

BYJU’S and New York-based Davidson Kempner have begun negotiations to settle their dispute over the breach of a loan covenant by the edtech giant’s offline test prep arm, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL).

BYJU’S has offered to repay the funds it has availed of from the loan and the interest on that amount, essentially giving Davidson Kempner an exit from the edtech firm after a prolonged boardroom saga, ET said in a report citing sources.

The two parties are some way off still – DK is seeking interest on the entire amount for one to two years, while BYJU’S founder Byju Raveendran has proposed a quarter’s interest. The talks between the two companies are centred on the exact payout and a formal proposal is expected this week by the two parties.

Meanwhile, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai is said to have finalised an $80 Mn investment in Aakash. The investment will be used to repay Davidson Kempner, and Raveendran will transfer Aakash’s shares to Pai in exchange for investment.

The Davidson Kempner Saga

This May, BYJU’S signed a $250 Mn (around INR 2,000 Cr) structured credit deal with Davidson Kempner against Aakash’s cash flow. However, the edtech has only received INR 800 Cr from the loan. Incidentally, BYJU’S has reportedly used up over INR 600 Cr from the facility.

Over the past few weeks, a breach of the loan term covenant triggered the US-based investor to start talks to return the money. At the same time, Davidson Kempner allegedly restructured Aakash’s board of directors. Though neither party commented on the development at the time, media reports were strife with speculation around Aakash’s future.

Even as BYJU’S tries to placate Davidson Kempner, it has scheduled crunch talks this week with the steering committee of its $1.2 Bn Term Loan B to sign new terms. Last month, the steering committee, which owns about 85% of the loan amount, said they had agreed to close the terms after discussions with the edtech firm.

Per their statement, the terms were to be signed by August 3, but a formal announcement is yet to be made by either party.

BYJU’S is also said to have written to Aakash founders – the Chaudhry family – and investment fund Blackstone, asking them to honour the pending stock swap part of the deal announced two years ago. However, the two parties have opposed the demand.

The Chaudhrys and Blackstone have reportedly cited a breach of terms, including a delay in furnishing the fiscal 2022 audited financials of BYJU’S parent firm, for the refusal, making it yet another case of delayed financial reporting haunting the edtech giant.

In any case, Raveendran and CFO Ajay Goel have promised shareholders that audited financials for FY22 would be filed by September and audited FY23 results by December.

The post BYJU’S, Davidson Kempner Start Negotiations To Settle Dispute appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Skill development startup Expertrons raised an undisclosed amount of strategic round of funding from Hindustan Media Ventures with participation from the Echjay Family office and Amar Ujala. 

Existing investors Ivycap Ventures, Iceland Venture Studio, Venture Catalysts and Ah Ventures, among others, also participated in the funding round. In addition to the funding, the startup has also acqui-hired Bengaluru-based HRTech platform Foxmula.

Expertrons plans to deploy the incoming funding in product development and overall growth, enabling the startup to reach more professionals. The startup raised $2.3 Mn in 2021 and an undisclosed amount in 2020 from IvyCap Ventures.

Founded in 2019 by Jatin Solanki and Vivek Gupta, Expertrons aims to democratise career insights with a patent-pending videobot technology platform that connects users with 7,500+ experts from companies like Amazon, Accenture, TCS and Kotak Mahindra. Experts from these companies share career experiences, knowledge and skills to crack interviews and internships.

The startup leverages AI-powered recommendations to provide users with its patent-pending videobots based on their areas of interest and company preferences. Expertrons also allows users to schedule one-on-one calls with experts for guidance tailored to their career aspirations.

Commenting on the platform’s utilities, Expertrons’ cofounder Vivek Gupta said that their goal is to act as a catalyst for the growth of over a billion professionals worldwide and support them through multiple career transitions throughout their lives. 

To this, cofounder Jatin Solanki added, “The content strategy will enable career experiences of experts on Expertrons to reach a wider audience. Shine’s vast user base is ideal for Expertrons, making career success a reality for countless professionals.”

Skill development is one of the biggest edtech subsectors in India, set to become a $2.5 Bn market opportunity by 2030, according to Inc42’s ‘Inside India’s $29 Bn+ Edtech Opportunity’ report. 

Some of the recent funding rounds in the segment include Disprz’s $30 Mn Series C funding round led by Lumos Capital and upGrad’s $36.5 Mn funding via rights issue earlier this year.

The post Enterprise Upskilling Startup Expertrons Bags Funding From HT, Acqui-Hires Foxmula appeared first on Inc42 Media.