Amid mass layoffs, Byju’s plans to rebrand WhiteHat Jr

Byju’s has been going through a rough patch for the past year and its perils seem far from being over. Despite several rounds of layoffs, the firm is considering another mass firing and is likely to rebrand its online coding platform WhiteHat Jr, according to several media reports.

While Byju’s did not comment on the rebranding of WhiteHat Jr, a Moneycontrol report said that the coding company will be rechristened as ‘Byju's Future School’ with an expanded offline presence. This potential change comes soon after the appointment of Arjun Mohan as the new CEO of India business.

Commenting on the layoffs, a company’s spokesperson said that it is in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise to simplify operating structures, reduce the cost base and better cash flow management.

The spokesperson added that Mohan will be completing the restructuring process in the next few weeks and will steer a revamped and sustainable operation ahead.

As per sources outside and inside the company, the layoffs could be anywhere from 3,000-4,000. Some media reports, however, estimate the numbers at around 5,000.

Since October 2022, Byju’s has fired over 4,000 employees across four phases and the latest layoffs will push the total number of impacted employees to 7,000-8,000.

As per the report, Byju’s will consolidate WhiteHat Jr’s assets into other business verticals including its holding entity Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. It’s worth noting that WhiteHat Jr CEO Ananya Tripathi already quit the company and is on maternity leave according to her LinkedIn profile.

To recall, WhiteHat Jr was acquired by Byju’s in a $300 million deal three years ago. The then CEO Karan Bajaj had led Byju’s Future School before his departure from the company in August 2021.

Meanwhile, Byju's is also planning to sell its kids' reading platform Epic and higher education platform Great Learning as it desperately looks to repay the $1.2 billion loan it took in November 2021. During the edtech heyday, Buju’s spent more than $1 billion to acquire both the companies.