BENGALURU: One rotten apple in India does not darken the cloud, said edtech firm UpGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala, hinting at Byju’s. According to him, this should not affect the entire edtech sector in the country.
He said at an event in Gurugram on Wednesday, “It is a joint accountability of the founder and 51 investors, who felt it was more important in a board meeting to ask, ‘When’s your next secondary?’ versus ‘I don’t see a CFO’ and so that one single aspect I don’t think is going to hold the whole education sector to ransom.”
He said the sector needs change with frugality. The serial entrepreneur and investor has been a vocal critic of Byju’s. His comments come at a time when the firm’s major shareholders have called for an extraordinary general meeting (AGM) to reconstitute the board. Reacting to it in a X post, he said, “Finally someone smelt the coffee!! Hope its not a whiff and then whimper but they will stay the course and get this done - for the whole eco system! For India as an investment destination! For just credibility overall of an otherwise sunrise and sunshine sector.”
At the EGM to be held on Friday, shareholders will discuss the issues including a change in management. They might vote for a revamp of the existing board. Earlier, reacting to EGM, Think & Learn, parent of Byju’s, emphasised that the shareholder’s agreement doesn’t give them right to vote on CEO or management change.
Akshay Munjal, CEO and Founder, Hero Vired, said, edtech platforms are undergoing a significant transformation with a focus on personalised learning experiences driven by AI and ML technologies.