Byju's founder pledges homes worth Rs 100 cr to pay salaries to employees: Report

Facing a severe cash crunch, Byju's founder Byju Raveendran has reportedly pledged his under-construction villa and his family members' homes worth Rs 100 crore to pay salaries to employees. 

Two homes owned by Raveendran's family in Bengaluru and his under-construction villa in Epsilon — the most exclusive gated community in the city — were offered as collateral to borrow $12 million (approx Rs 100 crore), Bloomberg reported citing sources. The startup used the funds to pay salaries to 15,000 employees in Byju's parent firm, Think & Learn Pvt, on Monday, the report said.

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Byju's, once the most valuable tech startup, plunged into a crisis after funding dried following a massive cut in valuation. In May this year, investment firm BlackRock cut its valuation to $8.4 billion from $22 billion achieved in March 2022. Global investment group Prosus valued it at $5.1 billion in June.

Raveendran has raised debts of about $400 million on a personal level, pledging all his shares in the parent company, the news agency reported, adding that the tech founder also plowed back into the company the $800 million he raised through share sales in the past couple of years.

Earlier today, Business Standard reported that Byju's credited pending November salaries to about 1,000 employees on Monday. The salaries were to be credited by December 1 but Byju's said that a technical glitch in uploading details to a payroll service system delayed the process.

The Bengaluru-headquartered startup has also been accused of delaying the 'full and final' settlements of employees it sacked earlier this year. The startup said, in September, that it would clear the settlement amid "difficult business restructuring". 

According to a new timeline provided in a company email, employees laid off were expected to receive their outstanding payments by November 17, the report said, adding that the earlier deadline was September 15.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has dragged Byju's to court over pending payment of Rs 158 crore. The BCCI has filed a petition claiming dues of Rs 158 crore as an operational creditor under section 9 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code 2016.