Serious allegations have emerged against Valued Epistemics Pvt Ltd, the Chennai-based company operating under the brands GREedge, AdmitEDGE and Yes2MS, with several former employees accusing it of withholding salaries and bonuses, diverting company funds, and defaulting on statutory payments. The company, in an email to Moneylife, rejected all accusations, calling them frivolous, misguided, and instigated by those seeking to damage its reputation.
According to documents and testimonies reviewed by Moneylife, the complaints date back to 2018 and 2019, when multiple employees alleged that the company abruptly stopped paying performance bonuses, delayed salaries for months and later withheld full payments without explanation.
One employee, who joined Valued Epistemic in June 2018, says salaries were initially regular but were soon cut without notice, forcing many to continue working unpaid for long stretches. “By late 2019, our team had shrunk from fifty to just ten people, all of us struggling through months without pay but still working out of loyalty and hope,” the employee says.
Having resigned in March 2020, the employee claimed the company assured full settlement of dues by August that year. Five years later, Rs1.86 lakh remains unpaid, despite repeated reminders and grievances filed on government portals such as PG Portal and Samadhan.
In a detailed letter, a collective of more than 50 former employees accused company founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Anand Kannan of diverting corporate funds for personal benefit and misusing the company’s resources. They allege that in 2018, Mr Kannan took a personal loan to buy back shares from venture capital firm IndusAge Advisors and then diverted company funds from Valued Epistemics’ account to his personal Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank account to service the loan.
They claim this marked the beginning of a series of financial irregularities that left unpaid and unmet compliance obligations. The group alleges defaults in provident fund contributions, delays in tax deducted at source (TDS) filings, and repeated cancellations and re-registrations of the company’s GST number.
“We have collectively filed more than 38 cases and over 60 grievances on official portals, yet there has been no closure. In many cases, the complaints were marked resolved without settlement,” the letter says. Several employees also allege that those who sought legal recourse were threatened with defamation cases and data theft allegations.
The company, in its response, denied all accusations, describing them as 'contrary to the true facts' and 'issued with mala fide intent'. It attributed its financial distress to macroeconomic conditions, including the non-banking finance company (NBFC) credit crisis of FY18–19, natural calamities in Chennai, the COVID-19 pandemic and, what it called, a hostile business environment for small, domestic, knowledge-based companies.
“The NBFC credit crisis precipitated steep financial pressures and was immediately followed by the Covid-19 lockdowns and disruptions,” the company says. “This was compounded by high wage inflation in the IT and BPO industries, dollar appreciation, and a blanket credit denial from banks and NBFCs.”
The company added that it has 'never threatened anyone in any manner' and continues to make efforts to stabilise its finances and meet obligations. “There may be no overnight solutions—patience, persistence, and a favourable environment are needed,” the statement says.
Former staff, however, dispute this narrative. They argue that the financial crises cited by the company were used as recurring justifications to defer payments while managerial excesses continued. “Each time we asked about salaries, there was a new excuse—the NBFC crisis, goods and services tax (GST) issues and Covid-19. But the reality was that money kept moving through accounts while employees were told to wait,” said one ex-manager, who claims that several long-serving employees left after their savings ran out.
Another former employee says, “People who questioned management were either sidelined or threatened. Many of us were young professionals who didn’t have the resources or connections to fight back.”
Information in the public domain shows that Valued Epistemic continues to operate under multiple brand names and new directorships involving family members of the promoters. Ex-staff allege that this restructuring helps the company escape accountability while continuing to recruit under different entities.
“Each rebranding cycle comes with a new name, a new director, and old promises,” one former executive says, alleging that the brands GREedge, AdmitEDGE, and Yes2MS are essentially continuations of the same business model with unpaid liabilities attached to previous operations.
The controversy also extends to Mr Kannan’s continued visibility in the public domain. Several employees expressed concern that a bylined article authored by him on Swarajya magazine remains online without clarification or context despite multiple complaints. “It is disheartening that a publication known for its values still features his piece, giving credibility to someone accused of exploiting his own employees,” one employee wrote. “We had reached out to Swarajya, but there was no response.”
In its response, the company urged the media to act responsibly and warned that such allegations could destabilise its recovery efforts. “These false and frivolous allegations only go to benefit select individuals and hurt the company’s bona fide efforts to improve its business,” the statement says.
It further claimed that the accusations were harming its ability to raise funds and regain stability. “We hope responsible people will protect the interests of all stakeholders rather than hurt them.”
Cases like this reveal the vulnerability of employees in India’s start-up and ed-tech ecosystem, where funding shocks or management disputes can leave staff without protection. In many smaller edtech firms, founder-controlled accounts blur personal and company finances. When cash runs out, salaries are the first casualty and employees have little recourse beyond filing complaints that often go unresolved. Collective petitions, while rare, signal growing frustration among educated youth who find themselves unprotected by weak enforcement mechanisms.
Despite its denial, Valued Epistemic’s troubles reflect a larger malaise in the post-pandemic ed-tech landscape, where several once-promising firms have faced regulatory scrutiny or collapse. While industry leaders like Byju’s and Unacademy drew national attention for massive layoffs and governance concerns, smaller players like GREedge have operated under the radar, often without the oversight that venture-backed firms face. For affected employees, the financial and emotional cost has been high.
“This was our first professional experience, and it left us disillusioned,” says one of the earliest complainants. “All we want is accountability and closure.”
As of now, no external audit findings have been made public and pending dues reportedly remain unpaid. The company maintains that it is making its best efforts to regroup and fulfil its obligations. For many former employees, however, those assurances ring hollow after years of silence. Whether through government intervention or renewed scrutiny, the case of Valued Epistemic stands as a reminder of how blurred accountability and unchecked founder control can turn ambition into exploitation in India’s booming ed-tech sector.
I was left with no option but to file a case against VEPL and its founder, Anand. However, the police attempted to mediate a compromise to me but not to help on attaining my salery. Unfortunately, I have been cheated by Anand for the past fiveyears and still today, and it appears that he has played a similar trick with many other ex-employees. The only hope now is to get our earnings back through media attention.
I hope that your article will bring attention to this issue and help us recover our rightful dues.
VEPL and its so-called directors have been exploiting fresh graduates, especially those from financially weak backgrounds who are desperate for a job. They take advantage of these young professionals’ inexperience so that they don’t recognize or question the exploitation happening. This has been their long-running practice. While they keep blaming “COVID delays” for pending payments, the truth is that several former employees — even those who left as far back as 2017 — are still unpaid.
Hi Moneylife team
Thank you for your s
upport.I have worked as an Business development executive in Valued Epistemics and I have resigned the company on July 31,2019.Now it's been more than 6years,I have not received my Final settlement amount.I have contacted the management through mails,calls and watsup messages but nothing helped me in getting back the amount.Recently after dropping multiple mails and messages through watsup I have received call from Anand kannan.During the call he said the company is not in a good position to settle the fnfs amount ,which he has been telling from past years.I also requested him to give me atleast 20000/- as of now since I am in need of money,he said it is not possible.I have worked for the company during tough times,I worked even in Sunday's and I have trained more than 10people in multiple sales department after all these hardwork all I was left is helplessness.At last he said he will clear the dues in September 2026.When I asked him to give me in written statement about the settlement mentioning the date and everything,he said he will get back to me.And no response till now,it clearly shows their intent towards the settlement.My total pending settlement amount stand to 236055.We request everyon
e to help us in getting back our hard earned money.
Thank you so much for supporting and standing up for us. I'm one of the victims who had suffered a lot due to this organization. I worked with valued epistemics pvt ltd during july 2019 to Feb 2020. Since they did not pay me salary i had to leave the company without any option. It's been more than 5 years now yet i didn't stop following up for my hard earned money to get it back. But every time, I either get replies like we will pay you soon (in the initial stages) and later they started to ignore my mails. This has immensely affected me mentally, emotionally and physically.
It is not just me, more than 100's of employees have faced this and now we can't take it anymore so we want justice and really don't want any more employees to face this at any cost.
We request everyone to help us and get our hard earned money back and shut down the company so that no one will be affected like us in the future.
Thank you so much for your support.
I worked with VEPL for more than 1 year but paid for only 7 months. After that they started telling stories like fund issue. I left VEPL at 2019 and it's been 6 years already. They are not responding to my calls and mails. My due amount is 1.10 lack includes 2 months salary. Now we all are united and fighting to get our hard earned money.
Thank you for becoming the voice of many employees like us.
I worked with Greedge for around 1.5 years, but they still haven’t paid me ?1.5 lakh in dues. I have already filed a case against them, but somehow they have managed to stall the proceedings. Unfortunately, I even got negative verdict n my case, which has further delayed justice.
It is disappointing that a company successfully betrays many of its employees, and still says that these employees try to hurt its reputation. I am also a former employee of Valued Epistemics and this article portrays our story. INR 475,822 is pending to be paid to me by the company.
If this company had some responsibility and ethics, they would not have done this to these much people. As said in this article, payments were steady in the first few months for me and then they skipped it several times, and completely stopped it. Fighting back as an individual did not help me.
Adding that, I suffered to arrange money for my Fathers critical health situation, After sending so many followup and reached Mr. Yogesh through whatsapp as there is no response on the emails then the response from him is still they not in a right situation and not paid even ?1 to me, we all have their own issues/commitments like them, we respected them and waited for long long years but now we people are united, and we will earn justice for sure. Because in the end, truth always win, no matter what.
People like Anand Kannan and his team at Valued Epistemics Pvt Ltd (GreEdge/AdmitEDGE) fooled us with polished words, false promises, and endless excuses — first blaming Covid, then NBFC crises, and now using new company names like Oppnity Technologies to escape accountability.
In reality, as per FY22 filings, the company showed 4.35 crores pending under employee benefits, yet none of us received our salaries. The same year, the directors paid themselves in crores. It’s heartbreaking and shameful.
Many of us went through severe mental and physical stress. Personally, my health deteriorated badly during this fight. We reached out to every authority — PG Portal, Labour Department, SFIO, MCA, even the Home Ministry — but no one listened.
They keep operating freely, launching new ventures, making the same excuses, and silencing employees. It feels like justice has no value unless the media gives it a voice — and today, because of you, ma’am, the truth finally has one.
Thank you again, truly, for bringing this story to light. For people like us, it’s not just an article — it’s hope.