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Mohandas Pai, Rajnish Kumar quit Byju’s advisory panel
Kumar and Pai, who joined Byju's parent company Think & Learn Private Limited (TLPL) in July last year, said they would not renew their contracts
Former State Bank of India chief Rajnish Kumar and Aarin Capital chairman Mohandas Pai have decided to part ways with Byju’s advisory panel, CNBC TV18 reported.
Kumar and Pai, who joined Byju’s parent company Think & Learn Private Limited (TLPL) in July last year, said they would not renew their contracts which, set to expire on 30 June 2024.
“Our engagement with the company as advisors was always on a fixed-term basis for a year. Based on our discussions with the founders, it was mutually decided that the tenure of the advisory council should not be extended. Though the formal engagement concludes, the founders and the company can always approach us for any advice. We wish the founders and the company the very best for the future,” Kumar and Pai said in a joint statement.
Rajnish Kumar is a veteran banker and served as the 25th chairperson of State Bank of India from October 2017 to October 2020. Kumar is credited with rescuing Yes Bank after the Reserve Bank of India put the private lender under moratorium in March 2020 and limited withdrawals from the bank.
Pai is a former board member and chief financial officer (CFO) of Infosys. His venture capitalist firm Aarin Capital was one of the earliest investors of Byju’s and sold its stake at a markup of nearly 1000%, according to a 2016 report.
Reacting to the decision taken by Pai and Kumar to end their association with beleaguered ed-tech firm, Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, said, “Rajnish Kumar and Mohandas Pai have provided invaluable support in the past year. The ongoing litigation by a few foreign investors has delayed our plans, but their advice will be relied upon in the ongoing rebuild, which I am personally leading.”
Founded in 2011, Byju’s rose to become one of India’s most valuable startups. As covid-19 pandemic shut down physical classes, the ed-tech firm’s business soared and its valuation skyrcocked to $22 billion in 2022. However, reopening of physical classes and corporate mismanagement led to a dramatic drop in its fortunes.
BlackRock, one of the major investors in Byju’s, slashed its valuation to about $1 billion in January 2024.
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