Byju Raveendran, the founder of eponymous edtech group Byju’s, told his employees on Saturday that he continues to remain the startup’s chief executive and that rumors of his ouster are “very exaggerated”, a day after a group of shareholders voted to oust him of the extraordinary general assembly.
In a 758-word letter, the content of which was reviewed by TechCrunch, Raveendran alleged that the shareholders violated several “material” local rules.
The group of shareholders, which included Prosus Ventures and Peak XV Ventures, said in a statement on Friday that investors “unanimously submitted” the resolutions that seek to enact, among other things, addressing governance, compliance issues, financial mismanagement, of the reconstitution of its board of directors. and a change in leadership “so that it is no longer controlled by the founders of T&L.”
At stake is the future of the Bengaluru-based startup, which was once the country’s most valuable.
Raveendran claimed in the letter that the EGM lacked the minimum quorum and failed to win majority support for the proposed resolutions. Raveendran alleged that the EGM was convened without following the procedures prescribed by law and attended by only 35 of Byju’s 170 total shareholders, representing around 45% of the company’s ownership.
“This means that whatever was decided in that meeting does not count, because it did not follow the established rules. Regardless of the relentless trial by the media, I firmly believe that the truth will inevitably prevail,” he wrote in his letter to workers.
The cash-starved startup, which has been seeking fresh funding for more than a year, late last month launched a rights issue where it seeks to raise about $200 million. The rights issue brings the startup’s valuation, once at $22 billion, back to about $25 million.
“Our rights issue has received an overwhelming response. In fact, such has been the magnitude of its success that even those who were sitting on the fence are now rushing to get a piece of the action. This momentum is irreversible and our return is now inevitable,” Raveendran told the workers.
“It should be clear from the above and various news reports, which paint a contradictory picture of the effect of yesterday’s meeting, that these minority shareholders are intent on spreading misinformation in the media. The Company will not stoop to their level and engage in a media war. We are confident that their actions will ultimately fail and the Company’s position will prevail.”
