Byju’s has vacated all of its offices in the country and told employees to work from home as the embattled start-up continues to face liquidity challenges amid a legal dispute with some of its investors.

The edtech firm is reportedly only retaining its headquarters in IBC, Knowledge Park, Bangalore. Byju’s has 14,000 employees on its rolls.

The directive will not apply to those working at around 300 tuition centres in the country.

Because of the financial crunch, the start-up has been unable to fully pay the February salaries of its employees.

It released the full salary to 25 per cent of staff in the lower pay scale along with partial payment to the rest of the workforce.

On Sunday, the company wrote two letters to employees informing them about salary payment.

The company attributed the difficulties to the blocking of funds by a select group of investors.

“We processed your salary for February late at night on Friday. However, due to yesterday being a second Saturday and on account of the long weekend, we expect the salaries to be reflected in your accounts on Monday. We sincerely apologise for
any inconvenience caused by this delay and are grateful for your understanding,” the management had told the staff whose full salary had been released.

A group of four investors of the start-up had filed an oppression and mismanagement suit against the management of the company before the Bangalore bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking to oust founders, including CEO Byju Raveendran, and appoint a new board.

It also sought to declare the $200 million rights issue that was concluded recently as void.

The petition was signed by four investors — Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV — along with support from other shareholders, including Tiger and Owl Ventures.

In line with the NCLT interim order, proceeds of the issue are kept in a separate escrow account. The tribunal will hear the matter again on April 4.