G V Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital (Peak XV Partners), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, Riju Ravindran, Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath sit on the board of administrators of Byju’s

Three board members of Byju’s have tendered their resignations owing to variations with founder Byju Raveendran on key operational points within the newest setback for India’s most valued startup.

G V Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital (now Peak XV Partners), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus have resigned, mentioned individuals acquainted with the matter. The resignations of those non-executive administrators are but to be accepted, they mentioned.

Riju Raveendran, Byju Raveendran, and Divya Gokulnath are the opposite three board members.

Peak XV Partners (previously Sequoia Capital India) and Prosus didn’t reply instantly to queries despatched by Moneycontrol. Byju’s denied the event and termed it “entirely speculative”.

“Since last year, there have been ongoing differences between the founders and the board over the way in which the company was run,” mentioned one of many sources near shareholders quoted above.

“There was divergence in the way Byju Raveendran approached lender management. The founders did not listen to board members and investors, and there was no transparency in the way the company was operated. The trust-building was lacking,” the particular person added.

There was a gathering of Byju’s buyers on Sunday the place these board members knowledgeable shareholders about their resignations, the particular person added.

The growth is a giant setback for the world’s most-valued edtech agency, which is at present in a tiff with its lenders within the US whereas additionally coping with mounting monetary woes in India. It additionally signifies indicators of misery on an operational and monetary degree on the firm.

The board members’ departure additionally comes at a time when Byju’s is seeking to take Aakash Educational Services, its most-successful acquisition up to now, public by mid-2024. The board of Byju’s had formally authorised the Aakash IPO in early June.

Earlier this month, Byju’s mentioned that it had filed a case in opposition to one in every of its lenders within the New York Supreme Court difficult the acceleration of the time period mortgage B it raised in November 2021. Byju’s additionally skipped paying $40 million in curiosity that was due on June 5, technically defaulting on the mortgage.

To be certain, Byju’s has been participating in discussions with its lenders since December final 12 months when the corporate sought simpler phrases on the mortgage as it was seeking to save prices with an intention to attain profitability.

But the corporate’s lenders requested for faster half fee of the $1.2 billion mortgage after Byju’s failed to satisfy sure circumstances, together with a September 2022 deadline for submitting its outcomes for the 12 months ended March 31, 2022, Bloomberg News reported. Earlier this month, the lenders scrapped these negotiation talks after submitting a case in opposition to the corporate within the Delaware court docket.

Byju’s soared to new highs in March final 12 months, when it raised a large $800 million spherical at a $22 billion valuation. But since then, the corporate has come beneath hearth for a variety of causes together with accounting irregularities, tussle with lenders, mass layoffs and mounting losses. Byju’s has raised $250 million on the similar $22 billion valuation since then, and is in talks to boost $700 million extra on the similar valuation.

Byju’s workplaces in Bengaluru had been additionally searched by India’s monetary probe company Enforcement Directorate in April beneath provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The firm is but to file audited outcomes for FY22 (2021-22).

For FY21 (2020-21), Byju’s reported an enormous soar in losses to greater than Rs 4,500 crore, whereas its income dropped marginally, a shock since FY21 was the primary 12 months of Covid that gave on-line studying corporations a shot within the arm.

Founded over a decade in the past by former trainer Byju Raveendran, Byju’s has raised over $5 billion, most of it up to now 5 years.