Byju Raveendran Returns At The Edtech's Helm As India CEO Steps Down

Arjun Mohan, Byju's' chief executive officer for India operations, has resigned from the beleaguered edtech startup about six months after taking the role, leaving founder Byju Raveendran to return at the helm after four years.

Raveendran will be "taking a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations of the company" and Mohan will "transition to an external advisory role", the company announced in a statement.

The company will reorganise its business into three divisions:

• Learning app.

• Online classes and tuition centres.

• Test preparation.

"Each of these units will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses sustainably, to ensure profitability. The changes follow an extensive seven-month operational review and cost-optimisation exercise, led by outgoing Byju's India CEO Arjun Mohan," the statement reads.

Raveendran said this reorganisation marks the start of Byju's 3.0 and his return to overseeing day-to-day functioning.

"Over the past four years, he (Raveendran) had focused primarily on strategic aspects, such as raising capital and driving global expansion. However, recognising the need for strong leadership during this challenging hour, he will now be deeply involved in the company's day-to-day functioning," it said.

Byju's will be launching its "new suite of AI-first products that have already received overwhelmingly positive feedback in the pilot phase", it said.

The significant development at the top for Byju's comes as it faces at least five insolvency petitions against it in the National Company Law Tribunal, apart from a bitter battle with major investors, who have voted to oust Raveendran and reconstitute the board without Raveendran's family.

Byju's test prep acquisition, Aakash Educational Services Ltd., has also named former Pearson India Head, Deepak Mehrotra, as its new CEO, filling a post lying vacant for months.