New Delhi: Investors of ed-tech Byju's will meet today to decide on installing new board by dethroning the company’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, NDTV reported.
A consortium of shareholders, which includes global investor Prosus, has called the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) as the company is spiraling down a worsening crisis.
Byju’s, a globally acclaimed Indian start-up, is now saddled with huge debt after having a staggering valuation of $20 billion, marking a 90 per cent decline in the past year.
Byju’s emerged riding on the wave of huge demand for online education during Covid pandemic.
However, the company soon enough hit a blind alley post the lockdown era with students began returning to classrooms.
Subsequently, the company suffered a trajectory of setbacks including withdrawal of investors, legal battle with US lenders, and stepping down of Deloitte as the auditor.
Byju's termed the today’s meeting a ‘smokescreen’, claiming the Karnataka High Court had ruled that any decision at the meeting until its next hearing would be ‘invalid’.
Nevertheless the court order, the meeting reportedly will take place seeking to remove Raveendran as CEO.
Byju’s accused investors including General Atlantic and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative of violating shareholder agreements by calling for the meeting, according to NDTV.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday issued Look Out Circular (LC) against him as part of a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) probe.
The ED has reportedly requested the Bureau of Immigration to ensure Raveendran does not leave the country.
Began as a venture offering classes for MBA aspirants in 2006, Byju’s emerged as India’s most successful start-up after launching its learning app in 2015.