The High Court of Singapore declined a stay on the six-month jail sentence of Byju Raveendran, meaning the founder of the failed education startup risks going to prison if he returns to the city-state, news agencies reported.
The court on July 9 ruled against Byju’s application to have the sentence halted, the agencies said citing a statement on July 14 by Byju’s law firm Lazareff Le Bars. The court originally pronounced the sentence, for contempt, in May, and then granted a stay on it last month until the next hearing.
“Mr. Raveendran maintains that he did not breach any court order, intentionally or otherwise, and will continue to pursue every lawful remedy through the proper legal process,” J. Michael McNutt, a lawyer at Lazareff Le Bars, said in the statement.
An earlier court ruling found that Byju had failed to comply with multiple court orders related to disclosure of his assets dating back to April 2024, reported The Straits Times.
He was ordered to surrender to authorities, pay legal costs of S$90,000 and provide documents proving ownership of Beeaar Investco, a corporate entity linked to shares in an affiliated company.
The case was initiated by a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which had invested in Byju’s during the company’s rapid global expansion phase.
Byju’s rise and collapse has become one of India’s most dramatic startup stories. Founded by the former mathematics teacher, the company transformed from a popular learning app into one of the world’s most valuable edtech firms during the Covid-19 pandemic.
At its peak in 2022, Byju’s was valued at US$22 billion and attracted billions in investments from global backers. The company aggressively expanded through a series of high-profile acquisitions, spending billions on companies including Aakash Educational Services, WhiteHat Jr, Epic and Great Learning.
The company also signed major celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan and Lionel Messi, as brand ambassadors while sponsoring large sporting events.
However, Byju’s fortunes declined rapidly after schools reopened following the pandemic. Demand for online learning weakened sharply, while the company struggled under mounting debts, operational costs, and integration challenges from its acquisitions.
Legal disputes involving creditors and investors have since spread across multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and Singapore. Lenders in the US are also attempting to recover losses linked to a US$1.2 billion loan that turned sour.
