Indian education platform Byju’s CEO is confident that the country’s financial crime-fighting agency will find the company compliant after raids on its premises over suspected breaches of foreign exchange laws, according to an internal memo.
Byju’s is one of India’s biggest startups, once valued at $22 billion (roughly Rs. 17,98,34 crore). It has attracted global investors such as General Atlantic, BlackRock, and Sequoia Capital, which have invested in the company over the years.
“As we are funded by 70+ impact investors who have satisfactorily done due diligence on our operations, including all FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) compliance, we are confident that the authorities will also come to the same conclusion”, CEO Byju Raveendran said in the memo sent late on Saturday, which was seen by Reuters.
Byju’s did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
India’s Enforcement Directorate raided three premises linked to the company on Saturday over alleged foreign exchange law violations.
The searches revealed that Byju’s parent firm Think & Learn Pvt Ltd had received foreign direct investment of nearly Rs. 280 billion ($3.43 billion) between 2011 and 2023, the agency said on Saturday.
The agency also said that the company remitted Rs. 97.5 billion to various foreign jurisdictions between 2011 and 2023 in the name of overseas direct investments.
In the internal memo, Raveendran said that the company had sent some money overseas to fund its international acquisitions.
The company had taken all efforts to comply with foreign exchange laws and all cross-border transactions were routed through regular banking channels, he added.
“I want to reassure you that we are fully cooperating with the authorities,” Raveendran said, adding that the required documentation and statutory filings had been submitted to the Enforcement Directorate.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
