Byju’s Founder Byju Raveendran Vows a Comeback Amid Financial Woes and Bankruptcy
Byju’s, once India’s top edtech startup, faces financial turmoil with unpaid debts and legal battles. Founder Byju Raveendran remains determined to revive the company.
kowshik Reddy
Once regarded as India's leading education-tech startup, Byju's is currently facing financial and legal problems. Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran maintains that he would "give everything within my reach to nurse Byju's back to health."
In his latest Instagram post, Raveendran featured a photograph of him as a boy and commented underneath, "Broke, not broken.We will rise again!" makes the point with the greatest spirit, as in the manner of raising Byju out of this miserable state. Once worth $22 billion at the peak of its glory in 2022, today the company is entangled in lawsuits claiming amounts over $1 billion on account of debts not being paid in American and Indian courts.
Because of these financial stresses, the consequent layoffs caused the loss of nearly 4,000 employees in 2022 during decision-making processes to restore profitability for the company.
Things worsened when the U.S. bankruptcy court initiated contempt proceedings against Byju's director-Rihu Ravindra, for concealing the whereabouts of loan proceeds amounting to $533 million. The court stopped further transfer of these funds, implicating co-founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath.
Despite these setbacks, Raveendran continues to pledge to rebuild and relaunch Byju's activities, maintaining that he'll even reinstate former employees. "I will never run out of optimism to keep it going," he said.
The public perception of Raveendran's statements seems to be mixed. Some laud his persistence, while many others questioned him on matters of accountability and transparency pertinent to the company's present misfortunes.
As Byju's seeks to stabilize itself in a climate of turbulence, the execution and measures through which Byju's aims to regain credibility and restore stability will faced with the test of time, the the EdTech industry, and its stakeholders.
