Hardeep Singh
Byju Raveendran, Co-Founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based edtech decacorn BYJU’S, will speak at TechSparks 2021 on what it takes to establish an empire from the bottom up. In this one-of-a-kind interview, you’ll learn BYJU’s success formula.
BYJU and its Co-Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran have seen rapid development in the Indian education technology or edtech decacorn (startups valued at more than $10 billion) market. According to industry rumours, the company intends to file for an IPO in mid-2022, with a target valuation of $400-600 million. BYJU’S, located in Bengaluru, is currently the most valuable startup in India, with a valuation of $16.5 billion, which is more than Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s fintech decacorn Paytm’s valuation of $16 billion.
Since its formal birth over a decade ago, Byju’s has risen to become India’s second-most valuable company, trailing payments behemoth Paytm, which is valued at $16 billion. After its most recent fundraising in June, Byju’s was valued at $10.5 billion, making it a decacorn (a business worth more than $10 billion). Byju’s strategy for success involves avoiding the rat race, which appears to be favoured by the Indian school system.
The learning app’s main goal was to give online tutoring to kids in grades four through twelve. Byju worked hard to make it both helpful and entertaining.
The popularity of the BYJU Learning Mobile App increased the number of pupils. His Learning Program has over 3.50 million annual subscribers and over 6 million downloads, with users spending an average of 40 minutes each day on the programme. Byjus’ mobile app covers over 2000 metros as well as pupils in India’s smaller towns, where access remains a challenge.
At first, the student must provide all of his or her personal information. After that, customers are given a 15-day free trial period to try out the services. Students will get access to more advanced levels of study if they pay after the trial period.
Stage 1: Students are encouraged to utilise the app to attend their scheduled classes.
Stage 2: They must next complete a series of exams with individualised feedback.
Stage 3: At a nearby centre, IIT/IIM alumni lead classroom sessions. Gurgaon, Pitampura, Janakpuri, Noida, Rohini, and other cities currently provide this service.
Stage 4: Experts coach you one-on-one and answer your queries.
Stage 5: Using the parent app, parents can get in-depth analysis and real-time feedback.
Stage 6: After the previous steps, the complete material is re-examined to gain a better understanding.
At an annual flagship event, TechSparks 2021, Byju Raveendran, Co-founder and CEO of BYJU’S, a crucial force driving India’s edtech revolution, will talk privately with YourStory Founder & CEO, Shradha Sharma, about the remarkable journey thus far and the way forward.
It’s no secret that the pandemic has had a huge impact on the edtech business. According to industry and consumer data site Statista, India’s edtech market was worth $2.8 billion last year (2020), and it’s predicted to expand fast to $10.4 billion by 2025.
This year, Indian edtech companies received more than $2 billion in financing, with three new edtech unicorns, including Eruditus upGrad and Unacademy, expected to launch in 2021. Unacademy is the second Indian edtech company, after BYJU, to attain unicorn status (startups valued at more than $1 billion) last year.
Returning to BYJU’S, the app has over 100 million downloads globally, a 4.7+ app rating, and an average daily time spent of 71 minutes. Through its app, it provides online learning programmes for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as preparation for admission exams to engineering schools, medical schools, and the civil service.
In the little coastal village of Azhikode in Kerala, Byju Raveendran, a 39-year-old teacher-turned-entrepreneur, begins his famous trip. Both of his parents were teachers at a Malayalam-medium government school in Kannur district, South India, where the Founder and CEO of India’s largest online learning firm BYJU’S attended. He went on to study mechanical engineering in his home state of Kerala before joining a shipping company in Singapore in 2001 as a globe-trotting engineer.
He would help his IT sector connections study for the Common Admission Test (CAT), which is the admission exam for India’s top business schools, during his visits back to India. He retook the admission exam to see how he did, and on both occasions, he received interview invitations from the famous IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), scoring in the top 1%. He, on the other hand, had no desire to get an MBA (Master of Business Administration) since he believed that teaching was his true calling. He left his job in 2005 and moved to India to educate MBA students. As his reputation as a teacher grew, so did the number of students he was able to educate. He formally founded his band in 2011.
In 2015, the Bengaluru-based company launched its well-known online application, “The Learning App,” and has since grown to become the industry leader in offering students with personalised learning programmes. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, Byju’s income tripled to Rs 2,800 crore (FY20). With a market of $750 million, India is the world’s second-largest edtech market after the United States.
According to a new report titled “EdTech in India” by Omidyar Network India and RedSeer Consulting, “a large untapped market, along with rising internet penetration, awareness, and the digitalization of primary education, promises a bright future for edtech in India.”
According to the study, the market for online education services encompassing grades 1 to 12 is anticipated to increase 6.3 times to $1.7 billion by 2022, while the market for post-K-12 (kindergarten to Class 12) is expected to grow 3.7 times to $1.8 billion. “This will provide a huge opportunity for existing firms as well as space for a large number of new startups,” it stated.
Byju’s is at the right place at the right time, offering online learning programmes for kindergarten through Class 12 students, as well as preparation for admission tests to engineering schools, medical schools, and the civil service.
The primary objective of BYJUs is to bridge the gap between Indian education and to inspire students to fall in love with what they learn. Quizzes, exercises, visualisations, and much more than simply theoretical knowledge are used to impart instructional content to pupils.
BYJU has a neutral motive since it does not simply target students who are motivated to learn. It seeks to create an atmosphere in which students take the initiative to study rather than being spoon-fed knowledge in order to receive a higher mark, as is the case in 99 percent of cases across the country.
Byju is noteworthy for being the first to develop methods and learning experiences that made learning fun and easy. He transformed education by making it more accessible, effective, entertaining, and personalised. It enabled pupils to study in a visual and context-based setting rather of a simply academic one. He employed technology and data science to provide students with a completely personalised experience.
