US-based Code.org sues WhiteHat Jr over payment dues

Code.org, a US-based NGO that focuses on computer science education for school children, has filed a lawsuit against Byju’s-owned WhiteHat Jr over payment dues and violation of  licence contract.

Code.org has filed the lawsuit in a California district court, San Francisco. TechCrunch reported the development first. Entrackr has reviewed the copy of the suit.

In May 2021, WhiteHat Jr signed an agreement with Code.org with an aim to enhance WhiteHat Jr’s proprietary coding course. With the partnership, WhiteHat Jr used to offer premium 1:1 tutoring from their 11,000 teachers using Code.org content.

In the lawsuit, the Hadi Partovi-led organisation alleged that WhiteHat Jr agreed to pay $4 million over four years to licence Code.org’s coding education platform. However, WhiteHat Jr did not honour the payment schedule while continuing to leverage its coding courseware.

Entrackr has reached out to Byju’s for comment.

WhiteHat Jr was acquired by Byju’s for $300 million three years ago and its then CEO Karan Bajaj had led Byju’s Future School before his departure from the company in August 2021.

As per media reports, Byju’s was planning to consolidate WhiteHat Jr’s assets into other business verticals including its holding entity Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. 

Byju’s is also likely to rebrand WhiteHat Jr in the coming months. Meanwhile, the company’s new CEO Ananya Tripathi quit in August.