People Digest: BYJU’s group general counsel quits; CEOs of Indus OS, KnowledgeHut step down

BYJU’s group general counsel Roshan Thomas has resigned from his position, while the CEOs of upGrad-owned edtech Knowledgehut, and PhonePe-owned app recommendations platform Indus OS have stepped down.

BYJU’s group general counsel Roshan Thomas has resigned from his position after a two-and-a-half-year stint at the Indian edtech firm, according to a LinkedIn post.

The exit of Thomas is the latest in a string of top-level departures at the beleaguered firm, which resorted to several rounds of layoffs to stay afloat.

BYJU’s has been facing multiple challenges of late.

India’s Enforcement Directorate issued a show-cause notice to BYJU’s in November last year for allegedly violating foreign exchange rules, according to a Reuters article.

In September last year, BYJU’s put its two subsidiaries—Great Learning and Epic—on sale to generate $800 million-$1 billion, looking to repay its entire $1.2 billion term loan in less than six months.  In its annual report filed in June, Prosus, which has a 9.6% stake in BYJU’s, said it had slashed the fair value of to $5.1 billion, the second markdown by the investor in less than a year.

KnowledgeHut CEO steps down

Founder and CEO of upGrad-owned edtech KnowledgeHut, Subramanyam Reddy, has quit the company after holding the position for 13 years, according to a LinkedIn post.

KnowledgeHut is a training provider for professionals across industries and sectors, providing courses in the fields of sales, operations, marketing, management and consulting. The company was acquired by upGrad for $16 million in 2021.

upGrad became a unicorn after raising $185 million from Temasek, IFC (International Finance Corporation), and IIFL, at a valuation of $1.2 billion in 2021.

upGrad, which focuses on upskilling, was launched in 2015 and crossed 1 million learners by 2020. In 2021, the company became a unicorn and touched 2 million registered learners.

Indus OS CEO steps down

Co-founder and CEO of PhonePe-owned app recommendations platform Indus OS, Rakesh Deshmukh, has stepped down from his role, according to a LinkedIn post.

“As I step down from the CEO role, I’m taking a moment to recharge and prepare for the next impactful journey,” wrote Deshmukh.

He founded MoFirst Solutions in 2008 and was the CEO of the startup for five years before founding Indus OS.

Indus OS assists users by offering them highly personalised and relevant app recommendations in their own language. The platform also helps developers with app localisation in 12 regional languages, app monetisation, and targeted promotions.

Founded in 2013 by Akash Dongre, Sudhir Bangarambandi and Deshmukh, the firm was acquired by PhonePe in 2022.

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