Byju Raveendran, the founder of edtech firm Byju’s, has promised to revive the beleaguered startup. The 45-year-old took to X to share a throwback picture and declared that he is broke but not broken. "We will rise again," he said.
Once a favorite among global investors and valued at $22 billion in 2022, Byju's is now embroiled in a legal dispute with lenders over $1 billion in unpaid debts in both the US and India courts.
Raveendran's recent update comes a month after he broke his prolonged silence with a detailed statement outlining plans to stage a comeback.
The reaction to Raveendran's recent announcement was, however, far from warm as X users accused him and the company of cheating parents while their education counsellors behaved like "hooligans".
"Karma hit you badly!" commented Sumit (@sumitsaurabh). "Selling tabs to poor on the name of fear of good education. Putting them in the trap of loan and EMI. What an evil organisation Byju’s was. We all know." Another X user Shajan Samuel (@IamShajanSamuel) wrote, "Greed overtook Byju's, education counselor’s were behaving like hooligans, people forget everything but they never forget how you treated them. You get one chance in life to make an impact, you blew it away."
A third X user said he had interviewed for Byju's but was rejected because he was empathetic. "Once upon a time, I gave an interview for a BDA role in your company during my campus placement. I was told I did not fit for the role due to my empathetic nature," said Anand (@ibhagat_anand).
Sabrish Surender (@sabrishsurender) claimed he spent close to Rs 2 lakh for his child on Byju's only to be disappointed with low-quality study material. "As the company grew, the focus shifted to acquisitions and more marketing, while the quality dropped. I spent close to 200k for my kid to get to experience the Byju magic, ended up watching weakly put-together recorded content with no life & interaction. Need old Byju back badly," he said.
Raveendran alleges foul play
In February, addressing the firm’s financial woes and legal troubles, Raveendran alleged foul play between Byju’s lenders and its interim resolution professional (IRP). He said that he, along with several of his employees, has received a document with “conclusive evidence” of criminal collusion between EY India, US-based lender GLAS Trust, and the firm’s IRP Pankaj Shrivastava.
“I am sure a thorough investigation of this evidence will reveal the truth. I request the authorities to take that up immediately,” Raveendran wrote on LinkedIn.
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