Three business heads quit as Byju’s rejigs verticals

Edtech major Byju’s on Tuesday said it has consolidated four verticals into two, K-10 and exam preparation, as part of moves to restructure its mainstay business.

“At present, two very seasoned and senior leaders lead both verticals, Ramesh Karra leads the K-10 vertical, while Jitesh Shah leads the exam prep business,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that the reorganisation of businesses led to the resignation of three business heads—Mukut Deepak, Pratyusha Agarwal and Himanshu Bajaj. The statement was issued in response to media reports on Tuesday that said that the three executives had stepped down.


The exits were not part of the company’s layoffs and were voluntary resignations, sources in the know told ET. The Bengaluru-based startup’s mainstay business in India was divided across four main categories—K3 or Early Learn, 4th to 10th class levels, 11th and 12th class levels, and offline Byju’s Tuition Centres (BTC).

Bajaj, who was the business head of BTC, left the firm in July, sources told ET. Nishant Bhasin, chief business officer at BTC, who reported to Bajaj, also quit in June, the sources added.

Launched in 2022, Byju’s has expanded its BTC business to 300 tuition centres across 143 towns currently. These centres double up as additional office space as the company has optimised its real estate in key locations Gurugram and Bengaluru, sources told ET.

In June, Agrawal, chief business officer of Early Learn, and Deepak, head of business, K10, also resigned, the sources added. The four executives who resigned were all hired between 2020 and 2022.

The four C-suite executives are among a slew of other senior management personnel who have rendered resignations in recent months, including vice presidents and region and zonal heads, some of whom were laid off over the five-plus rounds of layoffs that the company has carried out since 2022.

Byju’s India business is led by Mrinal Mohit. Executives who report to him include Ananya Tripathi, who leads WhiteHat Jr, and Asheesh Sharma, who leads the 11th and 12th business. While Tripathi is currently on a maternity break, it is unclear if Sharma continues to lead his unit.

It is also not clear on how the BTC vertical will be absorbed into one of the two verticals and whether Ramesh Karra and Jitesh Shah will report to Mohit. A Byju’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to ET’s request for clarity on the organisational shake-up.

The top-deck exits, apart from Agarwal’s, were first reported by The Morning Context over June and July.

Byju’s, India’s largest edtech as well as the country’s most valued startup—has been embroiled in multiple issues from corporate governance and financials to legal tussles surrounding a $1.2-billion loan and incessant firings across the organisation to save capital.

The company recently appointed former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar and former Infosys chief financial officer Mohandas Pai to its board advisory committee (BAC).