The Enforcement Directorate has searched the house and office of Raveendran Byju, the founder-CEO of world's highest valued Edtech startup, BYJU's. The agency that investigates financial crimes, said they have seized incriminating documents and digital data while probing alleged violations of foreign exchange rules. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the company searched two offices and one residential premises linked with the entrepreneur.
Per the agency, some private individuals had lodged a complaint in this regard, adding Byju never appeared before the ED despite being issued several summons. ED claimed the parent company behind the Ed-tech platform received Rs 28000 crore FDI between 2011 and 2023. They claimed that the company remitted about Rs 9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions.
Who is Byju Raveendran?
Byju Raveendran, a math tutor, launched the company in 2011 with his wife Divya Gokulnath. They hold a massive share of the company along with his brother
Riju Raveendran. Their combined net worth is a whopping Rs Rs 26700 crore (Forbes data).
The company is valued at 22 billion dollars, which is over Rs 1,89,000 crore. They posted a loss of $573 million in 2021.
Divya Gokulnath helps Byju run the company. She was one of his students when he was a tutor.
He used to work as a private tutor.
Byju and his family own around 25 percent of the company. The company is currently cash starved and is reporting massive losses. They have over 150 million users.
Byju is from Kerala. His parents were teachers. He did his engineering from Government College of Engineering, Kannur.
He aced two CAT exams back to back, in the early years of 2000. In 2007, he quit his job and launched a coaching centre for CAT aspirants. He met Gokulnath in one such class. They later got married. In 2021, the company acquired Aakash for 1 billion dollars. Gokulnath, born in 1997, is a co-founder. She is one of the richest women in the country.
She was born in 1987in Bengaluru, Her father is a medical doctor. She is also an engineer by training. She graduated with a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology.
She is also a teacher. She is the director of the company.
