For the past year, Byju’s has experienced some difficulties, and it appears that there is still much danger ahead. Despite several rounds of layoffs, the company is reportedly thinking about another large-scale firing and plans to rebrand its online coding platform as WhiteHat Jr., according to several media reports.
Although Byju’s declined to comment on WhiteHat Jr.’s rebranding, a Moneycontrol report claimed that the coding firm would be renamed “Byju’s Future School” and would have a larger offline presence. This potential modification occurred shortly after Arjun Mohan was chosen to serve as the new CEO of the India-based business.
A company spokesperson addressed the layoffs by stating that the company is in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise to streamline operating structures, lower costs, and improve cash flow management.
According to the spokesperson, Mohan will complete the restructuring process in the coming weeks and lead a redesigned and sustainable operation.
According to both external and internal company sources, there may be 3,000–4,000 layoffs. However, according to some media reports, there are only about 5,000 of them.
With the most recent layoffs, the total number of affected employees will rise to 7,000–8,000, bringing the total number of layoffs since October 2022 to over 4,000 across four phases.
The assets of WhiteHat Jr. will reportedly be combined by Byju’s into other business sectors, including its holding company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. It’s important to note that, according to her LinkedIn profile, WhiteHat Jr CEO Ananya Tripathi has already left the company and is currently on maternity leave.
Recall that three years ago, Byju’s paid $300 million to acquire WhiteHat Jr. Byju’s Future School was run by the previous CEO Karan Bajaj before he left the company in August 2021.
In the meantime, Byju’s plans to sell both its higher education platform Great Learning and its children’s reading platform Epic as it desperately tries to pay back the $1.2 billion loan it took in November 2021. Buju’s spent more than $1 billion to buy both companies back when edtech was at its peak.
