WhiteHat Jr founder Karan Bajaj exits company a year after acquisition by Byju's

Karan Bajaj, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of WhiteHat Jr, on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, announced his exit from the Byju-owned company. He exits from the company a year after the coding platform was acquired by India's biggest Edtech startup.

The organisation will be led now by Trupti Mukker, who was the Head of Customer Experience and Delivery.

Bajaj in a LinkedIn post shared the announcement of his departure from a company he founded in 2018. The post read, "Barely 2.5 years ago, it was an idea. Now, thanks to the power of tech, thousands of students and teachers are on the WHJ/BYJU'S FutureSchool platform, creating things with coding, maths, and now even the guitar and piano daily across the world, living the mission of kids being builders and creators versus consumers!

As I move on to new paths, my deep gratitude to 17,000+ employees and teachers who weren't a part of my life just two years ago. Thank you for trusting me through thick and thin, I know almost each one of you and will always remember you very, very warmly! Also to Byju, who I've grown to respect deeply as a great educator with a boundary-less vision of the world, who'll change the nature of education to active, creative learning the world over. A warm welcome to Trupti Mukker, my classmate from IIM and a leader I've admired from far for two decades. I know her competent, compassionate leadership will enable thousands of women to enter the mainstream workforce as WhiteHat Jr/BYJU'S FutureSchool expands into new countries and courses. Thanks also to the investors and the ecosystem who supported me-I feel fortunate all these folks entered my life who wouldn't ordinarily have, thanks to this experience.

I've never had a more stretching, challenging, intense but ultimately satisfying few years in my life. And I hope I can replicate it in some form as I look ahead to try to carve out a career in public service next after transitioning deeply and taking a small sabbatical. For now, though I've gathered enough stories to fill a book- wait, I may just write that :-)."

Acquisition of WhiteHat Jr by Byju

In August 2020, Byju's had acquired WhiteHat Jr for USD 300 million (about Rs 2,240 crore). The company had started as a coding training platform for children and has since added mathematics and music curriculum as well. It has also expanded to Brazil, Mexico, Australia and the UK beyond India and the US.