Byju Raveendran, the founding father of eponymous edtech group Byju’s, instructed staff on Saturday that he continues to stay the chief government of the startup and that rumors of his firing have been “greatly exaggerated,” a day after a shareholder group voted to take away him at an emergency normal assembly.
In a 758-word letter, content material of which was reviewed by TechCrunch, Raveendran claimed that the shareholders violated a number of “essential” native guidelines.
The shareholder group, which included Prosus Ventures and Peak XV Ventures, stated in a press release on Friday that the buyers “unanimously passed” the resolutions that search to enact, amongst different issues, addressing governance, compliance points, monetary mismanagement, reconstitution of its board and a change in management “so that it is no longer controlled by the founders of T&L.”
At stake is the way forward for the Bengaluru-headquartered startup, which was as soon as the nation’s most respected.
Raveendran claimed within the letter that the extraordinary normal assembly lacked the minimal quorum and did not win majority assist for proposed resolutions. Raveendran claimed the EGM was convened with out adhering to the procedures set out by legislation and solely 35 of Byju’s 170 complete shareholders attended, representing round 45% possession within the firm.
“This means that whatever was decided in that meeting does not count, because it didn’t stick to the established rules. Regardless of the relentless trial by the media, I firmly believe that the truth will inevitably prevail,” he wrote within the letter to staff.
The cash-starved startup, which has been attempting to find new funding for over a 12 months, late final month launched a rights problem, the place it seeks to boost about $200 million. The rights problem resets the startup’s valuation, as soon as at $22 billion, to about $25 million.
“Our rights issue has seen an overwhelming response. In fact, such has been the scale 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 comeback is now inevitable,” Raveendran instructed staff.
“It should be clear from the above and the 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.”