Byju Raveendran, founder of edtech group Byju's by the same name, told employees on Saturday, a day after a group of shareholders voted to fire him, that he remains the company's chief executive and that rumors of his dismissal are “very serious.” “It's exaggerated,” he said. Emergency general meeting.
In a 758-word letter reviewed by TechCrunch, Raveendran alleged that shareholders violated several “material” local regulations.
The shareholder group, which includes Prosus Ventures and Peak It was approved,” he said. and a change in leadership “so that it is no longer dominated by T&L's founders.”
At stake is the future of the Bengaluru-based startup, which was once the country's most valuable company.
In his letter, Mr. Raveendran claimed that the EGM lacked the minimum quorum and was unable to obtain majority support for the proposed resolution. Mr. Raveendran alleged that the general meeting of shareholders was convened without adhering to the procedures prescribed by law and that out of the total 170 shareholders of Byju, only 35 people with approximately 45% ownership in the company attended.
“This means that whatever was decided at that meeting was of no consequence because the established rules were not followed. Despite the relentless trial by the media, I remain adamant that the truth will always prevail.” I believe that,” he wrote in a letter to employees.
The cash-starved startup, which has been seeking new funding for more than a year, launched a rights issue late last month and aims to raise about $200 million. The rights issue resets the startup's valuation, previously valued at $22 billion, to about $25 million.
“There has been an overwhelming response to our rights issue. In fact, the scale of its success has been so great that even those who used to sit on the fence are now taking a piece of the action. This momentum is irreversible and our revival is now inevitable,'' Raveendran told employees.
“From the above and the various reports that consistently portray the impact of yesterday’s meeting, it seems clear that these minority shareholders intend to spread misinformation in the media. We have no intention of bowing to the level and waging a media war. We are confident that their actions will ultimately fail and that our position will prevail.”