Byju Raveendran Cries Foul Over EY’s Actions
There seems to be no end to the twists and turns in the BYJU’S saga. Now, the troubled edtech’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran has raised questions over the ongoing insolvency proceedings against the company.
In a LinkedIn post, Raveendran alleged that he has documents that show “conclusive evidence of criminal collusion” between EY India, the lenders and Pankaj Srivastava (IRP). While he did not divulge any further details, he called for a government probe into the matter.
In fact, training his guns at Srivastava, Raveendran said that he was appointed by an Indian court to protect BYJU’S but “ended up destroying it”.
Curiously, this follows a viral post online by a whistleblower, alleging that Srivastava had hired EY India to advise on the insolvency proceedings even though the audit firm had a conflict of interest, as it has been working alongside the lenders of BYJU’S on a related matter.
Meanwhile, Raveendran is likely in for a rocky ride as the NCLT, which is hearing the insolvency case against BYJU’S, has appointed Shailendra Ajmera, also an EY India executive, as the new RP of the troubled company.
On top of this, lenders are now part of its committee of creditors and are looking to extract whatever remains of the once poster child of India’s edtech revolution.
In addition, a US bankruptcy court has ruled in favour of the creditors in connection with the fraudulent transfer of $533 Mn out of the $1.2 Bn term loan B (TLB) extended to the edtech startup.
Not to mention, the BYJU’S rabbit hole is deeper than this. However, for now, here’s a quick look at the troubled edtech startup getting a new IRP. Continue reading…
From The Editor’s Desk
Can Ola Electric Stop The Drop? Since January 1, 2025, Ola’s stock price has fallen by over 30%. In the past two weeks, Ola Electric has twice hit the all-time low, and is now trading at INR 56.85, down 64% from the all-time high, and 25% below listing price.
Startup Funding Nosedives: Indian startups cumulatively raised $88.3 Mn via 16 deals last week, a 43% decline from the $152.9 Mn raised across 17 deals in the preceding week. Geniemode and Oxyzo raised the biggest rounds last week.
New-Age Tech Stocks Bleed: Of the 32 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage, 29 ended last week in the red, losing in a range of 1.38% to just a little under 20%. TBO Tek, MobiKwik and EasemyTrip were the biggest losers.
Paytm Under ED’s Radar: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a show cause to the fintech major for allegedly flouting foreign exchange norms between 2015 and 2019 in connection with its acquisition of Little Internet and Nearbuy India.
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EV Registrations Dip In Feb: Electric two-wheeler registrations tanked 27% to hit a 10-month low of 71,847 units last month. Market leader Ola Electric, which is revamping its distribution strategy, lost its top spot in the space to legacy giant Bajaj Auto.
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Inc42 Startup Spotlight
Can ParkMate Put An End To India’s Parking Chaos?
In a country with more than 140 Cr people and 5 Cr cars plying on the roads, there is no describing the challenge of finding a parking spot. After battling the menace in New Delhi himself, Dhananjay Bharadwaj teamed up with his friend Abhimanyu Singh and founded ParkMate in 2021 to address these woes.
The duo’s car management application enables users to simply feed in their destination. After reaching the spot, customers can find a ParkMate representative who would park the car to a nearby official car parking spot.
The application also has a ‘Get My Car’ feature where the users can summon their car to any nearby spot, and the ParkMate officials would bring the car to them. Moreover, the app also has an in-built GPS system which helps the car owners to track their car and can also have a 360-degree view of their parked car.
Currently, the Delhi NCR-based startup is focussed on catering to its B2B clients, including corporate offices, campuses and institutions.
Going forward, the startup plans to enter the B2C space, targeting regular car owners to tap the ~$436 Mn parking systems market in India. It claims to have recorded revenues of INR 6.5 Cr in FY24 and aims to hit a top line of INR 10-12 Cr in the ongoing fiscal.
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