Global audit firm Deloitte has resigned as auditor of Byju’s and has not undertaken to audit the edtech giant’s finances for the year ending March 2022, it said on Thursday, a year after the Indian startup’s belated financial disclosures captured global attention.
In a statement, Byju called Deloitte’s resignation a “planned transition” and said it had appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as auditor.
The Bengaluru-based startup also refuted a report that said tthree of the main members of its board of directors had resigned from their positions.
GV Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia India and Southeast Asia), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus have resigned from the board, according to India’s Economic Times newspaper. reported THURSDAY.
Byju’s said, “A recent media report suggesting the resignation of Byju’s board members is entirely speculative. Byju’s strongly denies these claims and urges media publications to refrain from spreading unverified information or engaging in baseless speculation.
Byju’s co-founders – Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath – and Riju Raveendran also sit on the startup’s board of directors.
The startup, the world’s most valuable educational technology company, is grappling with a series of challenges. Byju’s refused to make a $40 million payment earlier this month and filed a countersuit against its lenders. Byju’s said its lenders were operating in “bad faith negotiation tactics”. The lenders allege that Byju’s technically defaulted on the loan.
The startup is also cutting around 1,000 jobs as it works to improve its finances.
