Byju's crisis: CEO Raveendran 'moving mountains' to make payroll; workers receive January salary

Byju Raveendran of Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd that runs edutech start-up Byju’s.

As ed-tech firm Byju’s continues to fight lawsuits from lenders, founder and CEO Byju Raveendran sent out an email to all the employees to the company, announcing that the January salaries have finally been paid after extreme hardships.

Byju Raveendran said that employees have now received their salaries for the month of January, and the company had to “move mountains” in order to make payroll as it struggles to meet loan and interest deadlines.

Raveendran said in the letter to his employees, “I know you were told that you will get your salaries by Monday. Many of you wrote to me that you wouldn’t mind waiting even more because you know what I am going through. But you did not have to wait even till Monday. I have been moving mountains for months to make payroll, and this time, the struggle was even bigger to ensure that you receive what you rightfully deserve.”

The Byju’s founder further said, “Everybody has made sacrifices, everybody has grappled with decisions they never desired to make, and everybody is a little bit weary in this battle, but nobody has chosen to give up. This is because we are proud of what we have built. When we have self-respect, we have enough.”

This comes just days after media reports suggested that Byju’s will be delaying the salary payments for the month of January. The monthly payroll expenses for the edtech company is close to ₹70 crore, reported Moneycontrol.

Previous to this, Byju’s issued a media statement saying that investors do not hold the right to vote on changes in the top leadership, including the ouster of CEO Byju Raveendran. The shareholders had moved a resolution to oust the founders of the company from the board, with Raveendran pushing back against the investors.

Byju’s financial crisis: Highlights

Byju’s is currently facing a lawsuit from its overseas lenders after it failed to meet payment deadlines. Further, the lenders filed an insolvency petition against the company in a US court, days after which Byju’s Alpha unit declared bankruptcy.

The firm is seeking $200 million by selling new stock to shareholders, it said on Monday, at a valuation of just $250 million. Byju’s saw its peak when the valuation hit $22 billion in 2022, with a steep downfall in 2023.

The financial crisis was triggered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducting multiple raids across Byju’s office premises alleging multiple violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), leading to many key leaders resigning from the company.

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