Prosus says Raveendran Byju was unable to fulfil his fiduciary duty

Byju’s reporting and governance structures did not evolve sufficiently for a company of its scale, the edtech firm’s biggest institutional investor Prosus has said. This is Prosus’s first official statement since its representative exited from Byju’s board a month ago.

Byju’s grew considerably since Prosus’s first investment in 2018, but over time its reporting and governance structures did not evolve sufficiently for a company of its scale, the Netherlands-based firm said.

In June, Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus stepped down from the board of Byju’s, along with G V Shankar of Peak XV Partners and Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

In its statement, Prosus also said Byju’s is an important asset from the Indian start-up ecosystem and that it will continue to believe in the edtech firm’s potential. It said Byju’s sits at the intersection of India and education, two important and strategic areas of investment for Prosus.

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Prosus, which has upwards of $5 billion invested in India, added that it continued to believe in the edtech and Byju’s story. “Although we no longer have a representative serving on the board of the company, we continue to believe in the potential of Byju’s and its role in revolutionising access to quality education in India and around the world. Prosus will continue to assert its rights, collaborating with other shareholders and government authorities to safeguard the long-term interests of the company and its stakeholders,” it said.