Byju's top executive Cherian Thomas quits, joins Impending Inc as CEO

Thomas played an integral part in setting up the US operations at edtech giant Byju's and was also responsible for spearheading the business of Byju's owned educational gaming firm Osmo as its CEO

Impending Inc., the innovative company behind popular apps like Heads Up, Clear, and Classics, has announced the appointment of Cherian Thomas, formerly Byju's senior vice president for international business, as its new chief executive officer. Known for its unique user experience (UX) innovations such as swipe to complete, tilt to change, pinch to insert, and flip to change, Impending has been a leader in its field.

In his new role as the CEO of Impending Inc., Thomas will concentrate on expanding and scaling the product portfolio while also growing and reinforcing a global talent pool. Drawing on his varied background, strategic acumen, and operational proficiency, Thomas aims to make a substantial impact.

"Impending embodies everything I would pursue if I were to start anew," Thomas remarked.

Thomas's prior experience includes a pivotal role in establishing Byju's US operations, a leading edtech firm. He was also at the helm of Byju's owned educational gaming firm, Osmo, as its CEO, achieving revenue in excess of $100 million in FY21. As Byju's first international hire in 2017, he was instrumental in constructing the international organisation from scratch and spearheading acquisitions such as Osmo.

His earlier ventures include co-founding and selling the venture capital-backed startup Cucumbertown to Japanese conglomerate Cookpad in 2016. Thomas also has the distinction of being one of the earliest employees at gaming major Zynga.

Impending Inc. stands out as one of the pioneering Apple-focused studios globally, with a rich history of building for the Mac community since the early 2000s and later for the iPhone.

Unlike many companies, Impending Inc. has chosen to build products slowly and methodically, adhering to a principle of slow compounding, all without external funding. "There's no looming deadline or pressure to meet metrics to impress a board. It's a process of execution, failure, evolution, re-release, and scaling, all without scrutiny," Thomas explained.

"We share a vision of creating inspired apps with the potential to become pop culture phenomena, without compromise. We are committed to making this vision a reality together," stated Phill Ryu, Co-founder of Impending Inc., speaking about Thomas's appointment.

The company's successes include Heads Up, a joint venture with Warner Bros., which, with 70 million downloads, has been the number one paid game for nearly a decade, endorsed by Ellen DeGeneres. Clear, a to-do list app launched in 2012, has been at the top of the charts for almost half a decade. Other apps like Classics have also been major earners. The studio has recently introduced Web Roulette, a TikTok-style app that enables browsing popular websites.