byju’s meeting senior executives: Liquidity crisis will be addressed in 45-60 days, I’ll be the last man standing: Byju Raveendran tells senior execs

Amid the ongoing crisis at Byju’s, founder Byju Raveendran told a group of senior executives on Tuesday that he is aiming to close the liquidity crisis over the next 45-60 days, even as the edtech company has faced a series of crises this year, according to people present in the call, which is said to have lasted for around two hours.

Raveendran also addressed concerns on changes in its business plans and optimisation of cost – both on people and business front – to withstand the current crisis.

However, Raveendran also took this opportunity to rally his troops, calling for the team’s support to tide over the multiple crises that the company it finds itself in.

“Despite everything that’s going on, investors like Ranjan Pai (Manipal Group chairman) and other unnamed investors (founders) have helped us with capital in critical hours. Issues like term loan B and others have been big hurdles this year and this is no less than war time,” Raveendran is believed to have said during the two-hour call.

He said that while the group needs urgent cash infusion, businesses like Aakash and Epic are profitable while Great Learning is at a break-even stage. Due to the majority of fixed costs being housed inside Think & Learn – the parent of Byju’s – it has had to account for rising expenses, Raveendran said.

“I have invested the majority of my capital back in the company and yet I have had to go and ask for Rs 5 crore in capital also to clear salaries, but we will be the last man standing,” he said.

Raveendran also faced questions from senior managers on the call about reducing the notice period for staffers from 15-60 days to about 15-30 days. Byju’s India CEO Arjun Mohan, who was also on the call, spoke about these decisions and overall business plans going forward, while cautioning that availability of cash will be critical for all the plans.Mohan said a significant reduction in team size as well as notice period is not an ideal choice for any company, but it had become critical for the company to control its costs that had spiralled over the last couple of years.

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