More than a year after its previous CFO PV Rao resigned, Byju’s, the most valuable edtech startup in the world, hired top Vedanta executive Ajay Goel as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on April 4.
The company, which had put off filing its FY22 (2021–2022) results for more than six months, considered this to be a significant move.
Here’s what you need to know about Goel, who is assuming Byju’s long-vacant CFO position.
At BW Best CFO & Finance Strategy Awards | Image: Twitter @ajaygoel_ca
Goel’s experience
Goel has 21 years of experience in the field and has held executive positions in finance and operations for businesses in a variety of industries, including Vedanta, Diageo, General Electric (GE), Coca-Cola, and Nestle.
In his previous role, Goel was working as Group CFO (Acting) of Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources.
He began working for Vedanta in March 2021 as its Group Deputy CFO before being given the position of Group CFO (Acting) in October of that same year.
Prior to joining Vedanta, he held the positions of Executive Vice President and Finance Controller at Diageo, GE, Coca-Cola, Lead Finance Manager, and Regional Finance Manager at Nestle.
The new CFO of Byju’s brings experience in a variety of fields, including leading mergers and acquisitions, capital restructuring, funding strategy, taxation, developing high-performing teams, strategic finance, business partnerships, and decision support.
At Barmer, Rajasthan oil field | Image: Twitter @ajaygoel_ca
Goel’s education and qualifications
Having a single-digit national rank in both CA and CS, Goel is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Company Secretary (CS).
Goel earned a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Accounting and Business/Management from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai in 1997.
According to Byju’s, Goel’s new position will help the organization’s financial operations, long-term business strategies, and path to profitability.
Ajay Goel | Image: Twitter @ajaygoel_ca
Responsibilities at Byju’s
According to the company, Goel will be in charge of managing and directing Byju’s financial strategy in addition to closely collaborating with the company’s founders and senior leadership on strategy development, capital planning, and financial analysis.
Goel’s appointment comes shortly after the business renegotiated terms with its creditors, which included employing a CFO and providing monthly business updates.
Goel’s appointment coincides with Byju’s reportedly offering to raise the interest rate on its $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB), which it recently raised from a number of investors, as part of a revised agreement for debt financing.
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