🚀 Medial Secures Investment on Shark Tank India - Fueling the Future of Professional Social Networking. 🔥
Login

News on Medial

🔥 8 people are talking about this

Exclusive: Aakash CEO Deepak Mehrotra gets Rs 5 Cr in annual salary

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Exclusive: Aakash CEO Deepak Mehrotra gets Rs 5 Cr in annual salary
Medial

Deepak Mehrotra, who was appointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of Byju’s-owned Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) in April, will receive Rs 5 crore in annual salary starting from the current fiscal year (FY25). As per documents accessed by Entrackr, Mehrotra will get Rs 41.66 lakh as monthly salary which includes HRA, special allowance and provident fund effective from April this year. The filings further added that he will get a maximum of 20% bonus on the annual salary which is subject to achievement of goals or key performance indicators. The board at Aakash has also allotted employee stock ownership plan (ESOPs) worth Rs 25 crore to Mehrorta which can be vested in four years equally every year starting from April 2025. Prior to joining AESL, Mehrotra was the Managing Director at Ashirvad Pipes and has more than 35 years of experience in executive roles in FMCG, telecom, and education sectors. At the time of the appointment, Byju’s said that Mehrotra will be a part of AESL’s strategic vision to improve its offerings, expand its reach, and create a positive impact on the education landscape. In November 2023, Aakash also raised $168 million from Manipal Education and Medical Group chairman Ranjan Pai to clear the debt raised from Davidson Kempner in May last year. Byju’s had acquired Aakash for $940 million in April 2021. However, Chaudhry family, the founder of AESL, refused to swap their remaining stake citing governance issues. Three years later, both firms withdrew the merger petition and they are running independently as separate entities under the Think and Learn brand. Aakash is likely to cross Rs 2,300 crore in operating revenue in FY23 according to its valuation report but it’s yet to file audited financials for the past two fiscal years (FY23 and FY24). It competes with FIITJEE and Kota-based Allen Career Institute. While FIITJEE slipped into losses with Rs 542 crore revenue in FY23, Allen registered Rs 429 crore profit with Rs 2,277 crore revenue in the said financial year. Both are yet to file their FY24 numbers.

3

Related News

Investor funding in edtech drives behaviour which is not good for industry: Byju's Aakash CEO

Economic TimesEconomic Times · 1y ago
Investor funding in edtech drives behaviour which is not good for industry: Byju's Aakash CEO
Medial

Deepak Mehrotra, the CEO of Byju's Aakash Education Services Ltd (AESL), has expressed concerns about the behavior driven by investor funding in the edtech space. He believes that relying solely on digital platforms is insufficient for students aspiring to enter top institutions in medical and engineering fields and emphasizes the importance of addressing the needs of new learners. Mehrotra also mentioned his plans to increase the digital component at AESL to cater to digital-native learners. He recently joined AESL following the resignation of the previous CEO in September 2023. With extensive experience in various industries, Mehrotra aims to leverage his expertise in driving AESL's growth.

Byju's-owned Aakash appoints Deepak Mehrotra as MD and CEO

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Byju's-owned Aakash appoints Deepak Mehrotra as MD and CEO
Medial

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), owned by troubled edtech company Byju’s, has appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its managing director and chief executive officer. Prior to joining AESL, Mehrotra was the Managing Director at Ashirvad Pipes. With over 35 years of experience in executive roles in FMCG, telecom, and education sectors, Mehrotra has worked at firms like Pearson India, Bharti Airtel, Coca-Cola, and Asian Paints. The appointment of Mehrotra is part of AESL’s strategic vision to improve its offerings, expand its reach, and create a positive impact on the education landscape, said the company in a press release. “In his role as CEO, he will be responsible to deliver on our aggressive growth plan and to build on the significant momentum the company is currently experiencing. His business acumen and stellar record as the Managing Director for Pearson India will be pivotal in leading Aakash BYJU’S into its next phase of growth and impact,” said Byju’s Raveendran, founder and chairman of Byju’s. Aakash, which offers NEET, IIT-JEE, Olympiad NTSE, classroom along with distance courses for engineering and medical aspirants, has been preparing for the initial public offering (IPO) that might launch this year. In June 2023, Byju’s announced that Aakash would go public in the next 12 months or June 2024. In November, Aakash also raised $168 million from Manipal Education and Medical Group chairman Ranjan Pai to clear the debt raised from Davidson Kempner in May last year. Byju’s had acquired Aakash for $940 million in April 2021. However, Chaudhry family, the founder of AESL, refused to swap their remaining stake citing governance issues. Recently, both withdrew the merger petition. The two companies were running independently as separate entities under the Think and Learn brand and continue to do so. Aakash is yet to report FY23 numbers but the firm reported nearly 45% jump in its operating revenue in FY22. At the same time, it posted an 82% jump in profit to Rs 79.5 crore during FY22 and is expected to cross Rs 2,000 crore in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2023.

Exclusive: Aakash lays off employees amid strategic shift

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Exclusive: Aakash lays off employees amid strategic shift
Medial

Byju’s-owned Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) has laid off 80 to 100 employees over the past couple of months, according to sources familiar with the matter. “Aakash has fired anywhere between 80-100 employees, including senior and middle-level executives, who were impacted by the layoffs,” said one source, requesting anonymity. Several long-time employees, some with over 4 years of service, were also laid off in the past few weeks. An AESL spokesperson stated, “As a high-performance organization, our performance reviews, talent development interventions, and consequence management follow a biannual cycle. We are introducing new business models as part of the Aakash 2.0 strategy, which includes creating new roles, consolidating existing ones, and aggressively hiring new talent. Unlike other players in the category, we expect to be net hirers by the end of this year.” The spokesperson did not disclose the specific number of employees affected by the layoffs. This marks the first instance of layoffs at Aakash since its acquisition by Byju’s in April 2021, when the Bengaluru-based edtech giant spent around $940 million to acquire the company. However, the Chaudhry family, founders of AESL, refused to swap their remaining stake, citing governance concerns. Earlier this year, both companies withdrew their merger petition, continuing to operate independently under the Think and Learn brand. In April, Aakash appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its managing director and chief executive officer. The company is expected to surpass Rs 2,300 crore in operating revenue in FY23, according to its valuation report, though it has yet to file audited financial statements for FY23 and FY24.

Exclusive: Lendingkart raises Rs 100 Cr debt from Stride Ventures

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Lendingkart raises Rs 100 Cr debt from Stride Ventures
Medial

Small and medium enterprises focused digital lending platform Lendingkart has secured Rs 100 crore ($12 million) in debt and Rs 8 crore (nearly $1 million) in equity from Stride Ventures. This is the second major debt closure by the Ahmedabad-based firm in the past year. The board at Lendingkart has passed a board resolution to issue 10,000 non-convertible debentures and 454 Series D5 CCPS to raise Rs 108 crore or $13 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the RoC shows. As per the filings, the Temasek-backed company has raised Rs 318 crore ($38 million) in debt to date. Lendingkart will receive the debt fund in two tranches of Rs 50 crore ($6 million) each and it will carry a coupon rate of 14% per annum. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the company has been valued at around $690 million post-allotment. Just last month, LendingKart raised $10 million through external commercial borrowing (ECBs) from a fund managed by BlueOrchard. As of now, Lenskart has mopped up Rs 1,050 crore ($126 million) in equity capital from investors like Fullerton, Bertelsmann, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, Sistema Asia and India Quotient. Lendingkart disburses loans with an average ticket size of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh to MSME business owners. As per its website, it has disbursed over Rs 18,700 crore to over 300,000 businesses present in 4,100 cities. Lendingkart performed well in FY23 as its revenue from operations grew by 33.4% to Rs 858 crore. Meanwhile, the firm also posted Rs 119 crore profit in the same period. It’s yet to file annual financial results for FY24. As per a media report, the company is planning for an initial public offering (IPO) by next year. Lenskart is targeting to cross Rs 10,000 crore in assets under management before going public.

Exclusive: Curefoods gets Landmark Group backing, expands ESOP pool

EntrackrEntrackr · 4m ago
Exclusive: Curefoods gets Landmark Group backing, expands ESOP pool
Medial

Exclusive: Curefoods gets Landmark Group backing, expands ESOP pool Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods is raising Rs 37 crore (around $4.4 million) from Landmark Group. The funding comes just a month after Curefoods acquired Krispy Kreme’s South and West India operations from the same group. The board at Curefoods has passed a special resolution to issue 3,458 compulsory convertible preference shares at an issue price of Rs 1,07,526 each to raise Rs 37 crore, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. The Landmark Group is reportedly to invest an undisclosed amount in Curefood in its $40 million round of fundraising. After the latest funding, Landmark Group will retain a 0.96% stake in the company, which could increase with additional investments. Entrackr estimates the firm's post-allotment valuation at around $460 million. Curefoods has also increased its ESOP pool size by adding fresh 10,613 employee stock options worth Rs 114 crore or $13.5 million, the separate resolution shows. According to Entrackr’s estimates, Curefood’s total ESOP plan is now valued at approximately Rs 213 crore or 25 million, encompassing 19,842 employee stock options. Launched in 2020, Curefoods operates brands like EatFit, Yumlane, Aligarh House Biryani, Masalabox, and CakeZone. It has over 100 kitchens in over 200 locations across 15 cities serviced by a backend operation of over 7 food factories, and 150 multi-brand cloud kitchens. The company also acquired two brands – YumLane Pizza and Millet Express in 2023. Curefoods grew at a rapid clip with a 53% year-on-year growth in its revenue to Rs 585 crore in FY24 from Rs 382 crore in FY23. According to its annual report, the sharp decline in advertising costs helped Curefoods to control its losses by 50% to Rs 172.6 crore in the same period.

Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.