Three board members confirm resigning from Byju's; edtech firm says 'working towards constituting a diverse board'

Peak XV Partners, earlier known as Sequoia Capital India, Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said on Friday their representatives on edtech firm Byju's board have resigned.

The confirmation comes after a report said three Byju's board members had quit recently.

G V Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners, Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus were on the board of directors of Byju's apart from Riju Ravindran, Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath.

“We confirm that GV Ravishankar, MD, Peak XV Partners has resigned from the board of Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. We are committed to supporting the company for bringing on board an independent director in order to strengthen business processes and internal control mechanisms,” said spokesperson of Peak XV Partners.

Prosus, which holds about 9 per cent stake in the company, said: “Prosus confirms that Russell Dreisenstock, the representing Board Director from MIH Edtech Investments, B.V. (a Prosus entity) on the board of Think & Learn Private Limited, resigned from his position. The Company is required to file the resignation letter with the MCA in India within the required time period.”

"We confirm that Vivian Wu of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has resigned from the board of Think & Learn Pvt Ltd,” a spokesperson for Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said.

The edtech firm said it is engaging with investors in discussions on reconstitution of the board, including the induction of independent director.

"Need for reconstitution arose as few investors had to vacate board seat due to their shareholding falling below minimum required threshold," said the firm's spokesperson.

"We reassure all stakeholders the company is actively working towards constituting a diverse board," the spokesperson added.

Reports of the departures came on Thursday, the same day Deloitte disclosed it was resigning because Byju's had delayed financial statements for 2021-22 and not provided documents, even after the auditor wrote several letters to the board.

Sources told Reuters on Friday that Byju's, which was valued at $22 billion last year, was asking its three global investors to reconsider their decision to quit its board.

Formally called Think & Learn Pvt, Byju's is also locked in a dispute with lenders, who allege the company hid $500 million, leading it to sue lender Redwood Management.

The company, whose products range from online tutorials for children to offline coaching for engineering aspirants, became a pandemic darling as locked-down students used its apps increasingly.

This triggered an unprecedented wave of interest, and its valuation ballooned from $5 billion in 2020 to $22 billion in 2022, with investors such as Blackrock and UBS. Byju's also made acquisitions worth billions of dollars, seeking to expand abroad and in different segments.

The company's valuation was subsequently slashed to $8.4 billion earlier this year by Blackrock, a minor shareholder.

Byju's in recent times has also run into governance issues, audit delays and laid off thousands of employees in the past year, seeking to cut costs.

With inputs from Reuters