Latest news with #BYJU's
India Gazette
17-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
"If we were sitting on millions of dollars, this would not be the situation": BYJU'S co-founder Divya Gokulnath
Dubai [UAE], May 17 (ANI): Refuting allegations of diverting any loan proceeds to herself and her husband, BYJU'S co-founder, Divya Gokulnath, has said the couple currently lacks the funds to even hire legal representation in a US court. In an interview with ANI, Divya Gokulnath remarked that if they truly had hundreds of millions of dollars, they would have had no trouble affording legal representation. Referring to judgements passed by a court in Delaware, she said, 'Today, in the US, judgements are passed back to back to us by one court. Because we don't have representation. Yeah. I'll show you emails where they say, give us a million dollars. Lawyers are saying, Give us a million dollars or we won't represent. Where do I get the million dollars from? If we were sitting on 533 million dollars, this would not be the situation, right? We would have been fighting in the courts. We would have thrown money at lawyers.' Gokulnath described the negative portrayal of BYJU'S and the personal attacks on her and husband, Byju Raveendran, as 'unfair'. 'Honestly, I don't care about the money. It comes, it goes. And Lakshmi can come and go. Saraswati is with us. Goddess Saraswati is always with us. For me, it's about the tarnishing which has happened, which I feel is so unfair. It was all about what we could do for our country. And not what the country can do for us. So we are a made in India, made by Indians, proudly made for the world's product, service, company, people, students-first company,' she added. She further stated that while many entrepreneurs were heading abroad to establish their ventures in pursuit of lucrative opportunities, their vision was to build BYJU'S as a homegrown 'Make in India' success story. 'At the time when people were going abroad and setting up their companies because that was much more lucrative, we resisted it. We said, no, this has to be a make in India story. We will make our products in India. We will give our services from India and we will be an example for the world in education. Because education belongs to India,' Gokulnath added. Notably, BYJU'S is fighting legal battles over unpaid debts across courts in the US and India. Divya Gokulnath also alleged that a targeted campaign of intimidation and pressure tactics was mounted aimed at isolating her husband, Byju Raveendran, by threatening those close to him, including family members, colleagues, and even legal counsel. Referring to incidents where unknown individuals reportedly visited the homes of management personnel, Byju Raveendran, the founder and the CEO of BYJU's, expressed concern, stating, 'People get scared when somebody walks in, intrudes into a home in the context of not having answers.' Despite all these troubles, Gokulnath asserted that it is the truth and the final mission that bind all of them together. 'I think indirectly that's what they're trying to say. They're saying stand-off, or maybe create a lot of reputational damage so that you say, okay, you know what, I'll stay out of this. It's not going to happen because there is something, there is truth that binds all of us together. There is the final mission that binds all of us together,' she asserted. (ANI)
India Gazette
17-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
"Fake narratives, part of a malicious media campaign": BYJU's founder Raveendran on being labelled 'fugitive'
Dubai [UAE], May 17 (ANI): Byju Raveendran, the founder and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of embattled ed-tech company BYJU's has denied the allegations of being a 'fugitive,' attributing these claims to a 'fake narrative' and a 'malicious media campaign,' adding that these narratives were created to take control of the company. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Raveendran accused US-based 'lenders' of tarnishing the company's reputation which led to the downfall of all stakeholders and investors. He further alleged that they tried to create 'prejudice' in the Indian courts for calling Raveendran and his brother 'fugitive.' 'These are narratives which they have created in trying to take control of the company. Unfortunately, in a company which is built on the founders' name, or where the founder played an important role in the early years, they miss the fact that if you tarnish the founders name, it'll have a huge impact in the company's valuation. Even they overplayed that game to such an extent that has hurt everyone, all stakeholders, investors, including themselves. That's a game played wrong and by a few vulture lenders who were based out of US. This is exactly what was created, used to create prejudice in Indian courts by calling us fugitives, by calling me and my brother is having lookout notices,' Raveendran told ANI. Raveendran has publicly acknowledged the company's dramatic decline and vowed to rebuild, despite facing lawsuits, financial turmoil, and investor disputes. Byju's, once valued at $22 billion, has experienced a significant decline due to financial problems, regulatory issues, and legal battles. The BYJU's founder also spoke about the investigations conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) saying that the inquiry was around the company and there was nothing personal in it. He said, 'Now, we were freely traveling to India as and when required, keeping Dubai as a base for international expansion. These are all wrong narratives or fake narratives. There is no truth in this. The only truth here is the fact that there was an ED enquiry which was around the company, nothing personal over there. That investigation is closed and it's adjudication stage.' Speaking on the lookout notices issued by the ED against him, Raveendran attributed it to the 'wrong media narratives' implying that ED never makes such things public because that 'defeats' the purpose. He further pointed out that there was never a chargesheet or a Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) case against him rather there were only summons to which he cooperated. 'I have been traveling to India like even after the ED inquiry started. First of all, if ED puts out a lookout notice, they will never make that public because that defeats the purpose. It's a wrong media narrative around the ED investigation, it was never personal. It was on the think and learn transactions, which was other than a few misses on the filing timelines, there was never a PMLA. There was never a charge sheet. There were summons, I went and met, we cooperated. Investigation is closed. So, the whole narrative was blown out of proportion,' the BYJU's founder said. Further clarifying the allegations of being declared a 'fugitive,' Raveendran stated that this was just a part of a 'malicious media campaign,' as this word was used just 'verbally' and didn't had any mention in the official documents. He said, 'Our entire wealth, entire company was built out of India. All our wealth which we created was made in India, taxes were paid in India, invested back in India. We have nothing outside India. This is created by a few vested interests. If you see this fugitive word, they only use verbally. None of the filings, none of the court filings, none of the affidavits, you will never find any of this. This is just part of a malicious media campaign. None of the documents will have this word.' (ANI)
Hindustan Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
BYJU'S founder admits making ‘business mistakes', blames Russia-Ukraine war for crunch
Founder of edtech startup BYJU'S, Byju Raveendran, admitted that the company made "some business mistakes" when it expanded "too fast" to 21 countries due to the 'mandate' from the world-class investors. BYJU's, the beleaguered edtech giant, has faced numerous problems in recent times after a period of great growth. Raveendran said that the company could have taken expansion a little slower but had to heed the mandate of the investors for growth in the Covid era. "When we tried expanding from India to the whole world, we made some business mistakes. Maybe we could have taken it a little bit slowly. We were growing a little too soon, too fast. We went from India to 21 new countries. But if you ask me, in that context of 2019 to 2021, the Covid era, we have 160 investors, world-class investors, and equity investors. All of them - this was the mandate: grow, grow, grow and change the way kids learn," Raveendran told ANI news agency. He also accepted that major investments that were promised by the investors did not come through due to "external macro reasons" such as the Russia-Ukraine war. Raveendran said the promised capital that was already signed was in tune of $700 million, but didn't turn up. This, according to him, impacted the expansion and acquisition plans of the startup. "We were raising money for growth at that time. But when the world changed when interest rates went up, when Fed increased the interest rate and, almost simultaneously, the big war started, Russia and Ukraine, suddenly the liquidity dried up. 700 million of committed capital; signed committed capital didn't turn up," he added. Byju Raveendran revealed that at that time in early 2022, the edtech company, which at the time was the most valuable in the country in the sector with about $22 billion valuation, was planning its acquisition plans and growth, assuming that they would get the promised funds. He also admitted that edtech has been struggling for liquidity for almost three years now. BYJU'S was launched in 2015 and catered to students from kindergarten to class 12. The company achieved the 'Unicorn" status, valued at over $1 billion by 2019. The edtech startup then touched the $22 billion valuation mark in 2022, its all-time high. Prosus, a firm that invests in tech-based companies, slashed BYJU's valuation by 75 per cent in 2024.
