Nonprofit Code.org sues Byju’s unit WhiteHat Jr over payment dues

Code.org, the US instructional non-profit, has filed a lawsuit in a California district courtroom alleging that Byju’s subsidiary WhiteHat Jr breached a licensing contract by failing to pay charges whereas persevering with to make use of Code.org’s platform.

WhiteHat Jr, which sold to Byju’s for $300 million in 2020, partnered with Code.org final 12 months and agreed to pay $4 million over 4 years to licence Code.org’s coding training platform. However within the lawsuit filed earlier this month, Code.org claims WhiteHat Jr didn’t honour the fee schedule whereas persevering with to leverage its coding courseware.

In response to Code.org’s authorized grievance, WhiteHat Jr paid its 2022 licensing price however then knowledgeable the non-profit earlier this 12 months that it could be unable to make the remaining scheduled funds below the four-year deal. Code.org alleges WhiteHat Jr requested the unique settlement be amended to backload its excellent license price obligations. However Code.org’s legal professionals argue the unique contract makes clear that, even within the occasion of termination, WhiteHat Jr wouldn’t be relieved of its obligation to pay all future licensing funds nonetheless owed.

“To this present day, Whitehat has did not pay both the Q1 2023 bill or the Q2 2023 bill. The truth is, regardless of repeated written and oral requests by Code.org for fee, Whitehat has not paid something in any respect past the $1,000,000 that it paid pursuant to the 2022 invoices earlier than the Settlement was amended,” Code.org legal professionals allege.

Byju’s didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The lawsuit is the latest bother for Byju’s stemming from its acquisition of WhiteHat Jr, including to present points the corporate has confronted for the reason that buy. The Indian edtech big, valued at $22 billion in a financing spherical early 2022, earlier this 12 months weighed whether to wind down WhiteHat Jr, TechCrunch reported.

It additionally provides to the woes of Byju’s, which is dealing with warmth for protracted delays in submitting its monetary accounts and governance points. Prosus, an influential backer of Byju’s, just lately wrote down the valuation of the startup to below $3 billion.