BYJU’S forms advisory council, appoints Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar

Edtech major BYJU’S has formed a new advisory council. It has appointed former Infosys chief financial officer TV Mohandas Pai and former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar as its council members. The council will play an important role in mentoring and advising the BYJU’S team including CEO Byju Raveendran, a statement from the company revealed.

Besides being the former CFO and a board member at the Indian IT giant, Pai is also the co-founder of private equity fund Aarin Capital. He invested in the edtech company in its initial years. Kumar, on the other hand, is currently heading the business at fintech unicorn BharatPe.

Commenting on this development, Pai said, “Byju and Divya are amongst the most impressive entrepreneurs I have worked with from the start-up ecosystem. Since our first contact more than a decade ago, they have built the largest edtech company globally and amongst the largest start-ups in India. I see in them the drive to build the group into a successful corporation, and to ensure they deliver upon their mission in this sector as a category creator and market leader.”

He also said that he is looking forward to advising the company on matters such as corporate governance and financial reporting.

Kumar said that the current appointments will steer the company in the right direction. “My discussions with Byju and Divya convinced me that they are dedicating sincere efforts to steer a course correction of the company’s governance structure,” he said adding, “With calibrated guidance from experienced advisors who have come together to support these dynamic entrepreneurs, the company will be able to move forward and continue to contribute to this very important field of education.”

BYJU’S has been under the scanner for some time now. Besides there being a delay in FY22, the company has also attracted controversy for mis-selling courses, corporate governance issues, and more. Last week, three of its board members including GV Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners (Sequoia Capital India), Russel Dreisenstock of Prosus and Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative resigned from their positions.

Reports have also been rife that the company has appointed Arjun Mohan (former CEO of upGrad) as the head of the company’s international initiatives.

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