Remitted money for overseas acquisitions, says Byju’s CEO

New Delhi: After financial crime-fighting agency ED searched Byju's premises, the education platform's CEO Byju Raveendran wrote to employees saying the company brought more FDI to India than any other startup and that the firm fully complies with all applicable foreign exchange laws.

India's most valuable startup, Byju's was once valued at $22 billion and has attracted global investors such as General Atlantic, BlackRock and Sequoia Capital.

“As we are funded by over 70 impact investors who have satisfactorily done due diligence on our operations, including all FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) compliance, we are confident that the authorities will also come to the same conclusion,” Raveendran said in the memo sent late on Saturday.

ED had on Saturday searched three premises in Bengaluru linked to the company over alleged foreign exchange law violations. Searches at 'Think & Learn Private Limited' (Byju's online learning platform) yielded "various incriminating documents and digital data was seized", ED had said.

The firm had received foreign direct investment of nearly Rs28,000 crore between 2011 and 2023, the agency had said, adding the firm remitted Rs9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period in the name of overseas direct investments.

In the internal memo, Raveendran said that the company had sent some money overseas to fund its international acquisitions. “The recent visit by the ED is an enquiry under FEMA. The information requested by and furnished to the officers in connection with the FDI raised, overseas investments made, and cross-border transactions relating to marketing and branding activities by Byju's has previously been submitted by our authorized representatives,” he wrote.