Arjun Mohan, the CEO of Byju’s India, has resigned from his position in a little over six months after he took over, with founder Byju Raveendran resuming daily operational responsibilities, the company said in a statement. Mohan will transition to an external advisory role.

This is a significant step as the embattled edtech Byju’s is grappling with multiple issues that have plagued the company for the past year.

Mohan will step down to pursue other opportunities, as the business has contracted and Byju Raveendran will handle more day-to-day operations for the India business, housed under Think & Learn. Raveendran would be returning to the top of daily affairs after nearly four years.

“Arjun has done an outstanding job steering Byju’s through a challenging period,” Raveendran said, adding, “We are grateful for his leadership and look forward to his continued contributions as a strategic advisor.”

Mohan had replaced Mrinal Mohit last year as the company CEO. Both of them were former students of Raveendran.

The rejig comes at a time when the company has consolidated its operations into three focused divisions – The Learning App, Online Classes & Tuition Centres, and Test-prep. Each of these units will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses to ensure profitability as the company continues to battle severe cash crunch issues.

“This reorganisation marks the start of Byju’s 3.0 — a leaner and more agile organisation, ready to quickly adapt to evolving market dynamics, especially in the realm of hyper-personalised education,” Raveendran added.

Byju’s rights issue

In a major relief to the edtech company, the majority of shareholders of Think and Learn, parent company of Byju’s, has approved the company’s resolution to increase its authorised share capital.

In a statement, the company said that the voting process, which included both the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and a postal ballot that concluded on April 6, has been duly scrutinised by an independent third party.

“We are grateful to our investors for their support and understanding during this pivotal phase. Their invaluable support in providing essential working capital underscores their collective commitment to our renewed growth push,” said Raveendran.

The shareholder approval marks a significant threshold in our relentless push to turnaround the business beset with multiple challenges, which we are resolving one by one, slowly but surely,” he added.

Cash crunch

Byju’s is grappling with a tight liquidity situation. The company has given up its office spaces, taken multiple rounds of layoffs. Under Mohan’s leadership, restructuring was a major task, during which the company had laid-off nearly 5,000 employees.

The company is also facing challenges with its investors, as four of the company’s investors had approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The NCLT directed the edtech company to keep funds received from the rights issue in an escrow account until the disposal of the oppression and mismanagement plea filed by investors. The investors are Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV — along with support from other shareholders, including Tiger and Owl Ventures.

On April 8, Byju’s began salary payments after a two-month delay, even though it is barred from using proceeds of the rights issue.

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