Byju's CFO Ajay Goel Quits Amid Financial Results Delay; To Return To Vedanta
He will rejoin Vedanta, according to a company statement.
Byju’s Chief Financial Officer Ajay Goel has quit within six months, amid a delay in the edtech giant's financial results for the financial year ending March 2022.
He will rejoin Vedanta, after completing the formalities of the FY22 audit at Byju's, the company said. Goel had joined Byju’s in April 2023 from Vedanta Resources Ltd., where he was the group deputy CFO.
Goel's departure adds to Byju’s woes, which has now missed several deadlines to file its FY22 earnings. Its FY23 earnings are also slated for December.
Goel will replace Sonal Shrivastava at Vedanta, who is resigning as Chief Financial Officer citing personal reasons. He will take charge from Oct. 30.
Byju's has now elevated its President - Finance, Nitin Golani, to the role of India Chief Finance Officer and additionally, appointed Pradip Kanakia as a senior adviser in the company's finance function.
Kanakia has industry experience of over 35 years and has held leadership positions at Price Waterhouse and KPMG, while Golani, was previously the Chief Strategy Officer at Aakash Education.
"He played a crucial role in Byju’s $1 billion acquisition of Aakash in 2021 and moved into an operating role at Aakash post-acquisition. Nitin, a chartered accountant, began his career at Grant Thornton Bharat and has held roles at MetLife and Accenture Strategy. Nitin will work closely with the board, founders and senior leadership on strategy development, capital planning, and financial analysis," the statement read.
Goel's exit marks another addition to the exodus at Byju's, as it has been rocked by a wave of senior-level resignations. India CEO Mrinal Mohit, Chief Business Officer Pratyusha Agarwal, Mukut Deepak, business head for Byju's Class 4-10 school segment, and Himanshu Bajaj, head of Byju's Tuition Centers business have all exited the company. Its Senior Vice President for international business, Cherian Thomas has also quit.
WhiteHat Jr CEO Ananya Tripathi has reportedly exited, but the edtech giant has not commented on the same. Instead, it has said the resignations are a part of a restructuring of verticals it is undertaking.
Earlier this year, the startup also saw prominent board members representing investors -- Prosus' Russell Dreisenstock, Peak XV Partners' GV Ravishankar and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Vivian Wu -- all quit.
Its auditor Deloitte had also resigned, citing "long delayed" financial statements.
