Byju's India CEO Arjun Mohan quits, founder Raveendran to take over firm's daily ops

New Delhi: Arjun Mohan, CEO of India operations of Think and Learn, which owns Byju's brand, has resigned from the beleaguered firm, which on Monday also announced a business rejig consolidating its operations into three verticals. Mohan had joined Byju's in July last year as the CEO for international business after quitting rival UpGrad in February as CEO. Later, he was given charge of India operations in September after Byju's then CEO Mrinal Mohit resigned. After taking over the charge, Mohan undertook restructuring of the organisation which led to layoffs of around 4,000 employees at Byju's.

Byju's Founder Byju Raveendran will now handle the firm's day-to-day operations following the resignation of Mohan, the statement said. The company has also announced a major rejig of its business, consolidating it into three focused divisions -The Learning App, Online classes and Tuition centres, and Test-prep. "The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost optimisation exercise led by outgoing Byju's India CEO Arjun Mohan. This new phase will also see Byju Raveendran taking a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations of the company," the company said.

Mohan will now transition to an external advisory role, lending his deep edtech expertise to the company and its founders during this transformation phase, it added. Byju's expects the new structure will enable each vertical to be nimbler, cost-efficient, and better equipped to capitalise on market opportunities. Each of the new verticals will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses sustainably to ensure profitability. Over the past four years, Raveendran had focused primarily on strategic aspects such as raising capital and driving global expansion. "With this new organisational structure and with the return of Byju Raveendran as the operational leader, BYJU'S is now well-positioned to begin its next chapter of innovation-led growth by launching at scale its new suite of AI-first products that have already received an overwhelmingly positive feedback in the pilot phase," the statement said.

Mohan's exit is the latest in a series of top level departures from the embattled edtech firm, which had once commanded a peak valuation of $22 billion. Earlier, apart from Mrinal Mohit, company CFO Ajay Goel had resigned in October last year within six months of joining the firm. Amid various disputes with creditors and investors, cash-strapped Byju's has been facing challenges in paying salaries of employees. The company raised $200 million at 99 per cent lower valuation compared to its peak valuation of $22 billion attained in March 2021. However, it is unable to use the fund as a group of four investors has approached company law tribunal NCLT, Bengaluru bench which has put the fund utilisation on hold.

The group of four investors -- Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV -- along with support from other shareholders, including Tiger and Owl Ventures, had approached the NCLT against the company management and the rights issue. Byju's held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on March 29 to increase authorised share capital to absorb the $200 million fund. The company said that its EGM resolution has been approved by 55 per cent shareholders. NCLT in an interim order instructed Byju's to hold the funds received from the rights issue in an escrow account for now. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 23.