From a major battle with investors to multiple legal tussles, a lot has happened at BYJU’S during the aforementioned time period, including the reins of the edtech’s India business finally going to Byju Raveendran now.
However, before we delve into how Raveendran plans to salvage its troubled venture, let’s hark back a little.
Seven months ago, Mohan’s appointment was seen as a major positive for BYJU’S. After all, he was one of the earliest employees at the company having joined BYJU’S in 2008, and rose up to the position of chief business officer when he quit for the first time in 2020.
Incidentally, Mohan was reportedly eyeing the top post at Aakash Educational Services, which BYJU’S acquired in April 2021. Aakash is one of the only profitable ventures in the BYJU’S umbrella, but former Pearson MD Deepak Mehrotra was named as the CEO of the offline coaching giant.
As the India CEO, Mohan was expected to bring a turnaround for the Byju Raveendran-led company which was once India’s edtech crown jewel. But seven months down the line that narrative has come undone. If anything, BYJU’S is going through yet another transformation as BYJU’S 3.0 has come into the picture.
The development coincides with the company getting shareholder approval for its $200 Mn rights issue, which is still in limbo due to the company’s court battles with some shareholders in its investor group.
What Is BYJU’S 3.0
Under this programme, the company has announced a leaner structure and consolidated some of the verticals.
Multiple sources within the company told Inc42 that BYJU’S 3.0 is just an attempt at reducing expenses. And the edtech wants to do this by consolidating its verticles, along with keeping the count of its total workforce at roughly 5,000 employees.
This is just 10% of the 50,000-employee base that BYJU’S had in 2021, according to these sources. And while media reports claim that BYJU’S workforce currently is somewhere between 10,000-13,000 employees, several current and former BYJU’S executives claim this is an exaggeration.
Sources within the HR department told us that BYJU’S is also actively hiring despite having laid off thousands of employees in the past two years.
“Hiring hasn’t........