Aakash CFO Vipan Joshi quits; leadership churn deepens as rights issue proceeds

Bengaluru: Vipan Joshi, chief financial officer at Aakash Educational Services Ltd, has resigned effective 31 October, two people aware of the development said, adding to a leadership churn as the company proceeds with a rights issue. Joshi tendered his resignation about six months earlier, they said.

A spokesperson for Aakash confirmed on a call on Tuesday that Joshi had stepped down. Mint reached out to Joshi through calls and text messages but he did not respond.

“Vipan Joshi spent a decade with AESL and has moved on as its CFO. We wish him continued success in all his future endeavors as he moves for career growth,” Aakash said in a statement later in the day.

Joshi said in a post on LinkedIn a week ago that he was “taking a moment to reflect” as he turned “the page to a new chapter in my career” after more than nine years at Aakash. He said he was moving “forward to explore new horizons.”

Joshi earlier held finance leadership roles at Blinkit (formerly Grofers) and Snapdeal before joining Aakash in 2016. He later moved to take charge as CFO of Aakash in October 2022.

His exit comes two months after chief executive officer Deepak Mehrotra stepped down in August, about 16 months after his April 2024 appointment. Mehrotra was succeeded by Chandra Sekhar Reddy Garisa as managing director and CEO with effect from 19 August. Garisa most recently served as managing director of Claypond Capital, the family investment office of Dr. Ranjan Pai.

Aakash, once among the most prized acquisitions of Byju’s in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $950 million, has weathered a turbulent period in recent months. It now counts Ranjan Pai’s Manipal group as the majority shareholder, with Pai having converted a $300 million debt investment into roughly 40% equity.

Pai later sought to lift his stake by buying Blackstone’s holding, according to reports earlier this year. The transaction has not closed amid a boardroom dispute over proposed changes to Aakash’s articles of association introduced at an EGM last year. Blackstone has opposed Aakash’s push to amend its AoA, arguing that the changes would erode the rights of minority shareholders.

Rights issue

Apart from this, Aakash’s proposed rights issue faced a legal pushback earlier this year, but the Supreme Court dismissed civil appeals by Byju’s creditors and other related parties on Monday, clearing the way for Aakash to proceed with a fresh fundraise.

GLAS Trust, a creditor to Byju’s parent Think & Learn, and Byju’s resolution professional Shailendra Ajmera of EY had challenged the rights issue in October. However, the National Company Law Tribunal Bengaluru refused to grant them interim relief.

On 28 October, the parties moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal bench of Chennai, which too dismissed GLAS’s application, holding that the board had a legal right to raise capital to meet business needs.

Aakash has faced other turbulence as well, including layoffs of 80-100 employees in September last year, according to startup news platform Entrackr.

The company has not filed its annual reports for FY24 and FY25. Registrar of Companies data shows FY22 revenue climbed 44% to ₹1,421 crore from ₹983 crore in FY21, with net profit rising to ₹79.5 crore from ₹43.6 crore.

Aakash competes with Allen, FIITJEE, Bansal Classes and Unacademy, among others. In interviews in January, then CEO Mehrotra said the company was looking to raise about ₹500 crore. He told PTI in October 2024 that Aakash planned to invest about ₹100 crore over two years to rebuild and scale Aakash Digital.