Byju's international head Abhishek Maheshwari joins Aakash as CEO

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Abhishek joined Byju's in July 2019, prior to which he was the India head of the Walt Disney Company.

A graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and Columbia Business School, New York, he has also worked with consulting firm McKinsey and private equity firm Kubera Partners.

In 2019, private equity giant Blackstone picked up a 37.5 percent stake in Aakash, valuing it at $500 million.

"Abhishek will be responsible for strategy formulation and management of core offerings, which include digital along with classroom, hybrid and distance learning," Aakash Education Services Ltd said in a statement.

Maheshwari's move will come as a blow to the $12 billion-valued edtech firm, for which international expansion and the US market will be its next big aim.

To this effect, it acquired US-based Osmo, which offers learning solutions for kids from ages 3-8, for $120 million in 2019.

Coding upstart Whitehat Jr, which Byju's acquired for $300 million in 2019 is also targeting the US as a large market.