BYJU’S Witnesses Senior Executive Exits Amid Ongoing Challenges
- ByStartupStory | August 29, 2023
Amidst a series of challenges, edtech giant BYJU’S has experienced the departure of three senior executives. Pratyusha Agarwal, Chief Business Officer at BYJU’S; Himanshu Bajaj, Business Head of BYJU’S Tuition Centre; and Mukut Deepak, Business Head of Classes 4-10 Online and Home Tuitions have all left the company. Agarwal previously held the position of Chief Consumer and Data Officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited. Bajaj served as the Asia Pacific Consumer and Retail Head at Kearney, while Deepak was the Chief Business Development Officer at Tata Sky in Tata Play Ltd.
In response to the departures, a BYJU’S spokesperson confirmed a restructuring of businesses and verticals, consolidating them into two key verticals – K-10 and Exam Prep. Ramesh Karra leads the K-10 vertical, while Jitesh Shah leads the exam prep business. The spokesperson noted, “As a part of this reorganisation of businesses, Mukut Deepak, Pratyusha Agarwal and Himanshu Bajaj will be moving on.”
The recent exits follow the departure of Cherian Thomas, Senior Vice President for International Business at BYJU’S, who has taken on the role of CEO at Impending, a company specializing in software and mobile gaming apps. Thomas played a significant role in establishing BYJU’S US operations and spearheading the business of BYJU’S subsidiary Osmo as its CEO.
BYJU’S has been undergoing workforce downsizing both globally and domestically to address various challenges. The company recently let go of around 100 employees as part of a performance review process, following a prior round of job cuts that impacted about 1,000 individuals. Over the past year, BYJU’S has implemented multiple workforce reductions as part of cost-cutting measures.
Despite the pandemic-led growth in the edtech sector, BYJU’S continues to face challenges including delays in filing financial statements, conflicts with lenders over a $1.2-billion term loan B, and a dispute with US-based investment fund Davidson Kempner regarding its test prep unit Aakash. In FY21, the company reported a loss of Rs 4,564.38 crore, a significant increase from its FY20 loss of Rs 305.5 crore. The company is anticipated to file its FY22 and FY23 financials in the upcoming months.
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