Byju’s classes are quite popular among students of all age groups. Whether it is CAT, UPSC, or any other entrance examination, Byju’s has become a trusted brand all over India.
But little is known about the 37-year-old man who started Byju’s and took it to the level of that it is on today. Aside from the fact that his firm is now the new sponsor of Indian cricket team’s jersey, Byju Raveendran also recently became the newest billionaire in India.
With a valuation of $6 billion (₹ 600 crores) in 7 years, Byju’s has taken over almost every field of education.
Byju Raveendran’s parents were school teachers, but teaching as a profession never fascinated him. He was more interested in sports in his childhood years.
In 2003, when he was on a holiday from his overseas job as an engineer, he appeared for the CAT examination and also helped some of his friends clear the test.
Year after year, he started helping a few students for this exam and soon he became a popular figure.
Starting from a single room, to a hall and even a stadium, the strength of his classes grew significantly. And this is when he thought of starting online classes and forayed into the field of teaching with innovation.
He set up Think & Learn in 2011, which offered online lessons and launched the Byju’s learning app in 2015.
The learning app coaches students for CAT, UPSC, JEE, NEET, GRE, among several other exams.
The idea soon appealed to many investors and his venture received funding from some biggies in the industry like, Sequoia Capital and Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
Byju’s is now known all over the world for its video lessons and the latest in the series is their Disney adaptation for kids of classes I to III.
In a statement given to the Hindustan Times, Raveendran said:
“Byju’s approach is simple – captivate kids by transforming the content – to fit short attention spans.”
Most recently, Byju’s acquired Aakash Education Services for nearly 1$ billion – one of the largest deals ever in the education space.
What started from a single classroom accidentally, is now a business worth billions of rupees and with the growth of Internet, the popularity and profitability of Byju’s is expected to grow manifold in the coming years.