Edtech firm Byju's tuition chain Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) has appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This comes at a pivotal moment for AESL and the edtech firm as well.
Deepak Mehrotra has over 35 years of experience in executive roles. Before joining AESL, he was the Managing Director at Ashirvad Pipes. He has also worked at Pearson India, Bharti Airtel, Coca-Cola, and Asian Paints. He has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee, an MMS from JBIMS, and has completed an Executive program from The Wharton School, Philadelphia (USA).
Mehrotra emphasised the importance of leveraging technology and modern teaching methodologies to enhance the learning experience for students across the country. “I am honoured to join AESL, a pioneer in the education sector, and look forward to working closely with the talented team to deliver quality education and empower students to achieve their full potential,” said Mehrotra.
The appointment of Deepak Mehrotra is part of AESL's vision to enhance its offerings, expand its reach, and create a positive impact on the education landscape, Byju's said in a statement.
Byju Raveendran, Founder & Chairman, Byju's said, “As we enter the next phase of growth, it’s our pleasure to welcome Deepak to lead AESL. In his role as CEO, he will be responsible to deliver on our aggressive growth plan and to build on the significant momentum the company is currently experiencing."
AESL has a network of over 310 Aakash centres (including franchisees) and a student count of more than 400,000. Byju's acquired Aakash for $950 million in April 2021 and in November last year Ranjan Pai, Manipal Education and Medical Group Chairman invested Rs 1,400 crore in AESL to clear the edtech firm's debt to investment management firm Davidson Kempner.