The rise and fall of Byju's, once a startup darling in India

Byju's, once India's most valuable startup, has seen a sharp reversal in its fortunes after a series of setbacks, including alleged accounting irregularities and purported mismanagement.

Valued at $22 billion in 2022, the Indian edtech startup's valuation has since plummeted 95% after investors cut their stakes in multiple rounds. It was most recently slashed to $1 billion, after BlackRock downsized its holdings in Byju's last month, according to media reports.

The company, which offers services ranging from online tutorials to offline coaching, attracted billions of dollars from investors across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic when online education services were on high demand.

Last Friday, major Byju's shareholders, including Netherlands-based global investment group Prosus, voted to oust founder Byju Raveendran as chief executive officer.

Investors who attended an extraordinary general meeting "unanimously passed all resolutions put forward for vote," which also sought to change the board, according to a statement Prosus sent CNBC.

"These included a request for the resolution of the outstanding governance, financial mismanagement and compliance issues at Byju's; the reconstitution of the Board of Directors, so that it is no longer controlled by the founders of [Think & Learn Private Limited]; and a change in leadership of the company," said the statement issued last Friday.

However, Byju's rejected the resolutions, saying the extraordinary general meeting was "invalid and ineffective" due to a low turnout attended only by a "small cohort of select shareholders."

"The passing of the unenforceable resolutions challenges the rule of law at worst," the Bengaluru-headquartered firm said in a statement to CNBC.

"Byju's