FIR filed in fraud case against; Created India's first edtech unicorn company

Digital

Byju was born in a small town called Azhikode in the Kannur district of Kerala. There, his father Ravindran was a physics teacher and his mother Shobhanavalli taught mathematics. Byju's early education took place at this government Malayalam medium school. Then he did BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Government College of Engineering.

After engineering, Byju started his career at the British shipping firm Pan Ocean Shipping Ltd. Here he worked as a service engineer.

In 2018, Byju's secured funding from major investors like Sequoia Capital, Tencent, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Sofina. This year, BYJUs raised approximately $540 million (around ₹3,800 crore) in funding. The round was led by South Africa's Naspers Ventures and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

After this funding round, BYJUs valuation reached $3.6 billion. With this, BYJUs became India's first edtech unicorn company.

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has registered a case of fraud and forgery against BYJU's founder Byju Raveendran and the company's directors. It involves allegations of fraud amounting to ₹46.90 crore.

This FIR has been registered against Think and Learn Private Limited (Byju's parent company), Byju Raveendran (founder), Riju Raveendran (director), Divya Gokulnath (director and co-founder).

The complainant is from a company named Aditya Birla Capital, which used to provide loans to students taking admission in BYJU's for preparation of entrance exams like NEET, CUET, JEE Mains, and UPSC.

Company named Think and Learn Private Limited

In 2011, Byju created a company named Think and Learn Private Limited. Then he shifted his focus from those preparing for engineering or MBA to grades 1 to 12. The number of students in this category in the country is more than 25 crore, and until then, no one was focusing on this market. The company's target was entrance exams like IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, etc.

Byju felt that many of his students, who were usually college graduates, did not have their fundamental concepts clear because most schools focus on numbers rather than teaching. Byju came up with an idea that transformed the edtech industry.

In 2018, Byju's secured funding from major investors like Sequoia Capital, Tencent, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Sofina. This year, BYJUs raised approximately $540 million (around ₹3,800 crore) in funding. The round was led by South Africa's Naspers Ventures and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

After this funding round, BYJUs valuation reached $3.6 billion. With this, BYJUs became India's first edtech unicorn company.