BYJU'S founder pledges homes to pay staff their salaries
Byju Raveendran, the founder of Indian edtech giant BYJU'S, pledged his and his family members' homes. This was done to raise $12 million for employee salaries amid a cash crunch, Bloomberg has reported. The funds were used to pay 15,000 employees at BYJU'S parent company, Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. Neither Raveendran nor BYJU'S representatives have commented on the matter.
Raveendran's efforts to keep BYJU'S afloat
Raveendran has been working hard to alleviate BYJU'S financial strain. He raised around $400 million in debt by pledging all his stocks in the parent company and has reinvested the $800 million he raised through share sales back into the business. BYJU'S is in the process of selling its US-based kids' digital reading platform for approximately $400 million. It is also engaged in a legal tiff with creditors over a missed interest payment on a $1.2 billion term loan.
BYJU'S has defaulted on payment to BCCI
On a related note, the BCCI has claimed that BYJU'S defaulted on a payment of Rs. 158 crore. The same information was reflected on the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) website. The NCLT has given two weeks to BYJU'S to give a reply in the case and another week after that to BCCI to file a rejoinder. The case was filed on September 8, but was officially registered on November 15. Its hearing is scheduled for December 22.
